Peach and Berry Tart

 The month of pies/tarts continues.... We were off to the cottage for the August long weekend and in a fantastic coincidence it is also peach season.  I browsed through my Martha Stewart Pies/Tarts book and wouldn't you know it, there are two recipes calling for peaches.  One was mini peach tarts using puff pastry, the other was a peach and berry tart with a flour cornmeal crust.   I choose the later, a flour cornmeal crust, how intriguing!  Both the filling and crust looked quite simple to put together and that is always a big plus when life makes you short on time and when the weather makes you not want to bake.   Here is pie #2 for the month











INGREDIENTS:

Crust

• 3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal (preferred stone ground but that is not what I used)
• 3 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp unsalted butter, cut in to small cubes
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Filling

• 3-4 small/medium sized peaches, sliced into wedges
• 3/4 cup assorted fresh berries
• 1/4 cup brown sugar

INSTRUCTIONS:

1) Make the crust: Preheat oven to 400F.  Add all crust ingredients into a food processor and pulse until dough just begins to come together.

 2) Press the dough into the bottom of a 9 inch tart pan and up the sides.  Bake until golden and slightly puffy, about 15 minutes.   Remove from the oven and press the center of the crust gently with an offset spatula. 

3) Make the filling : While the crust is baking combine the filling ingredients in a medium bowl and toss together.

4) When the crust is complete, reduce the oven to 375F.   Arrange the fruit on top of the crust.  Bake until peaches are tender and lightly golden, about 30 minutes.  Let cool on a wire rack.  Serve warm or at room temperature. 

This crust was so interesting.  I can understand why the recipe preferred stone ground cornmeal but I rather enjoyed the texture it had with the slightly coarser cornmeal.  The cornmeal also gave a nice flavour

I actually accidentily overbaked this, recovered the berries with some new ones and this still turned out pretty great.  It was a easy as it looked and the crust was easy to handle.  

MEG's RATING: D-EEEE-LICIOUS!