Farewell Summer Peach Tart

What better way to bid Portland adieu than with a belated peach tart.  I shared this with some friends just before I left for Japan and if you're blessed with peaches in your neck of the woods, might I suggest you share it too. 

 A simple butter crust topped with pastry cream and slices of peach.  Update: Japan news coming soon...

Sweet Tart Crust
from Chocolate and Zucchini by Clotilde Dusoulier
1 C. + 2 T. a.p. flour
1/3 C. sugar
1/4 t. fine sea salt
7 T. chilled unsalted butter + enough to grease pan
1-2 T. cold milk

Mix dry ingredients in medium bowl. Use a pastry cutter or fork to cut the butter into the flour to form a pea-sized crumbs.  Add milk 1 T. at a time until the mixture holds together when squeezed, it should be crumbly.  Pour mixture into buttered tart pan spread evenly w/finger tips.  Place sheet of plastic wrap atop the crumbs, then use a measuring cup or a glass with a flat-bottom and straight sides to press the crumbs into the pan starting at the edge and working your way to the center.

Chill crust 20-30 min. in the freezer. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake chilled crust for 15-20 min. until golden. Cool completely before filling.  Makes 1, 9" crust

Pastry Cream
from Epicurious 
2 1/4 C. whole milk
6 egg yolks
2/3 C. sugar
1/3 C. cornstarch
1 vanilla bean (or 1 t. vanilla extract)

In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 C. milk, egg yolks, 1/3 C. sugar and all of the corn starch.  Place the remaining 1 3/4 C. of milk in a medium sauce pan, add vanilla pod (if using) sliced down the middle and seeds scraped into the milk.  Sprinkle remaining 1/3 C. sugar over the milk, letting it sink  undisturbed to the bottom.  Place the milk/sugar mixture on moderate heat and bring to simmer without stirring. Remove from heat.   Whisk the hot milk gradually into the egg yolk mixture, (if you're using  vanilla extract add it here.) Return to heat, whisking constantly, cook on medium-high heat, until the cream simmers and thickens, approx. 1 min.  Remove from heat, discard vanilla pod, whisk until smooth.  Transfer to a bowl to cool. Press plastic wrap to surface of cream and cool completely before using.  Chill 4 hours-3 days.  Makes 3 cups.

To assemble the tart.  Fill cooled crust with a layer 1/2" of pastry cream (about 1-1 1/2 C.) Top with peach slices, beginning from the perimeter finishing with a central spiral.  If you want to peel the peaches, by placing them whole in large pot of boiling water for 15-30 seconds.  Cool peaches immediately in ice water.  The peels should come right off and slice.  Hint: to keep the peaches from browning after they're peeled squeeze some fresh lemon juice into the ice water bath.

Because It's Been So Long Peach Butter

Yesterday I woke-up early with the word peaches on my lips, only to fall back to blissful weekend slumber. An hour later, my hopes dashed of obtaining my 20 pound box of "seconds" (they go quickly) we headed to the farmer's market. As luck would have it I arrived late and got my box. "Seconds" incidentally, are the delicious, albeit less-than-perfect peaches sold in bulk for 25 bucks a box. Last year I came the same Forbidden Fruit stall to purchase their lovely fruit. You should see how these guys handle their peaches, like they're little balls of newborn; so tender and filled with promise. This year I decided I wanted to make fruit butter; the less-sugar cousin to jam that goes well with savory dishes as well as toast. Here's how to do it:

Simple Peach Butter
10 lbs. fresh peaches, approximately 25 medium peaches, or 16 C. crushed
5 C. sugar
1 lemon, juiced

Skin peaches by immersing them whole into boiling water for 1 minute. Remove them into a bowl of cool water. While the peaches are cooling, prepare in a large bowl 2 cups of water and the juice of 1 lemon, this will prevent the peaches from browning. Peel and pit the peaches placing them in the lemon water.

In a large (10 quart) stainless steel pot, crush the pitted peaches 1 cup at a time using a potato masher. Keep track of the number of cups of peaches you crush in the event you need to adjust the proportions of sugar to fruit. I’ve read many recipes that call for a ratio of 1/2 cup sugar to 1 cup of crushed fruit. I’ve reduced the amount here as I prefer a fruitier tasting butter; feel free to make your own adjustments.

On medium heat bring the crushed peaches to a boil being careful not to scorch them. Add the sugar and bring back to a boil. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. When the peach/sugar mixture comes to a boil, remove from heat and transfer 3/4 of the mixture to shallow baking dishes and place in the preheated oven. Stir the butter every 15 minutes. As it cooks down add the reserved peach/sugar mixture. When the butter mounds nicely in a spoon it’s ready. This will take 1-1 1/2 hours depending on the moisture content of your peaches.

When the butter is at the correct consistency, hot-pack as instructed in my Old Fashioned Raspberry Jam recipe or bottle in sterilized glass containers and once cooled store in the refrigerator. Makes 12, 1/2 pint jars