Summer fruit tart

Browsing my favorite cookbook (Patricia Wells, At Home in Provence), I noticed her recipe for an apricot-honey-almond tart, one of the few recipes in the book I’ve never tried. I came home from the farmer’s market a couple of days ago with only two apricots, but I also had a couple of peaches, a couple of plums, and a basket of strawberries, so I used them all.

I LOVE this tart! The crust and cream filling are not terribly sweet, and the fruit flavor is intensified by the time in the oven. It would be good with any single ripe summer fruit or any combination. Here’s my adaptation of her recipe.

Mixed fruit-honey-almond tart

Equipment: One 9-inch fluted tart pan with removable bottom

The Crust

Unsalted butter for preparing the pan
8 tablespoons (120g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup (100g) sugar
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
A pinch of fine sea salt
1 1/4 cup plus 1 tbl (180g) unbleached all-purpose flour

The Cream Filling

1/2 cup (12.5 cl) heavy cream
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 tablespoons raw full-flavored honey (I used sage)

1/4 cup finely ground unblanched almonds (ground in the food processor with a teaspoon or so of flour to keep it from turning to almond butter)

Fresh summer fruit, pitted and halved but not peeled, to equal about 1.5 pounds (750g)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375.

Butter the bottom and sides of the tart pan.

For the crust, combine the butter and sugar, then add the extracts, salt and flour and stir to form a soft, cookielike dough. Do not let it form a ball. Transfer the dough to the center of the tart pan. Using the tips of your fingers, evenly press the pastry onto the bottom and sides of the pan. It will be quite thin when you finish.

Place the pan in the center of the oven and bake until the dough is slightly puffy and set, about 12 minutes.  (Don’t overcook now, because the crust will go back in the oven for another 50 minutes or so.)  Sprinkle the almonds on the crust. (This is to prevent the crust from becoming soggy and it tastes good too.)

Meanwhile, prepare the cream filling by combining the cream, egg, almond and vanilla extracts. Add the honey and whisk to blend.  Her recipe called for a tablespoon of superfine flour to be whisked in as well. I didn’t have any, so I skipped it, and it worked fine without it.

Starting just inside the edge of the crust, neatly overlap large chunks of fruit (I quartered the apricots and cut all the other fruits to about the same size). Make concentric circles, working toward the center, and fill the center with the remaining fruit.

Pour the cream filling evenly over the fruit. Place in the center of the oven and bake until the filling is firm and the pastry is a deep golden brown, 50 to 60 minutes. The fruit may shrivel slightly. Remove to a rack to cool.