Stuffed Peach Tart

I love this time of year when local fruits and vegetables are available. Peaches from Ontario have been in the grocery stores for a while and Nova Scotia peaches will soon be hitting the shelves. This dish is from my friend Francesca who taught me so much about Italian cooking! I don’t think I ever missed a culinary class of hers when we lived in Singapore. An expat’s life is so short in other countries and as was the case with us, we were moving back to Hong Kong. We keep in touch (several cities and countries later) and I was so delighted to see her website, Erbapepe, was up and running and translated into English! Francesca’s love of her country’s food history shines through whenever she prepares a dish. I would love to be in her kitchen once again listening and learning more from her but for now I am happy to be in her virtual kitchen!  Ciao!

Makes 12 (3-inch) Tarts or one rectangle pan
recipe by Erbapepe

For the tart dough:
150g butter at room temperature
100g of icing sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
50g almond flour
230g flour
A pinch of salt

Pastry Cream:
320ml (1 1/2 cups) milk
160ml (3/4 cup) heavy cream
6 egg yolks
180g sugar
40g cornstarch
5 peaches

Peach Stuffing:
1 egg
10 Italian amaretti cookies
peach or apricot jelly

Sift the flour with the salt and place in a bowl. In another bowl cream the butter, add sugar, then the egg and slowly incorporate the flour. Form a ball and let it rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, well covered.

For the pastry cream: beat the yolks with the sugar. Add the cornstarch and mix well.
In a saucepan heat the milk with the cream. Pour in the egg mixture, return to the pot and bring to a boil, stirring continuously until it becomes thick. Transfer to a bowl while preparing the tart.

Preheat oven to 190c (375f). Roll out the dough, line a buttered rectangular pan. Prick the base and pour in the cream. Halve the peaches and arrange on the surface of the pan. Mix the crumbled cookies and the egg yolk and add this to each peach slice. Fill the peaches with the filling. Bake for 30 minutes or until pastry crust is golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack. Brush gently with heated jelly and decorate with redcurrant.

The Culinary Chase’s Note: Decorate each peach half with fruit of your choice. I put some of the crumbled amaretti cookie (without the egg) in the cavity of each peach and topped with the pastry cream. Delicious!