It's peach season here in South Carolina. I bought a nice little bag of peaches at the All Local Farmers Market on Saturday and they have been quietly ripening on the dining room table. How fortuitous that my August issue of Food and Wine should arrive yesterday with a whole spread of peach recipes! Naturally I chose the most pie like one to try first. This tart allows you to preserve the freshness of the peaches by not cooking them at all. Only the crust and custard are cooked, and fresh peaches are laid on top.
Start with the crust. It's made with vanilla cookies ( I used Nilla wafers) and almonds whirled into submission in the food processor and pressed into crust form. This bakes while you assemble the custard. It's a simple cream cheese layer, but I did the peaches a favor and added a teaspoon of fresh grated ginger. Peaches and ginger like each other. They get together when the weather heats up and create desserts that make your taste buds sing.
This pops into the oven so that ginger can mellow out while you deal with peaches. Wash, peel and slice, then toss them in sugar. This is a dessert that won't last long, so enjoy it while it's fresh.
Peaches and Ginger Tart
Adapted from Food and Wine magazine August 2011 page 60
2 cups vanilla cookies such as Nilla wafers
1/2 cup smoked almonds ( or roasted almonds if you accidentally buy those instead)
1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons sugar
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sour cream
1 egg
1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
2 ripe peaches, peeled and sliced into pretty wedges
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the vanilla wafers, almonds and 2 T sugar in a food processor and chop into fine crumbs. Add the melted butter and pulse until evenly moist. Press the crumbs into the bottom of a 9 inch tart or springform pan. A measuring cup is a great tool for pressing the crust down and making nice edges. Bake for 10 minutes.
Clean out the food processor and add the cream cheese, sour cream, egg, 2T sugar and ginger and blend until smooth. Pour the custard into the crust and bake for 15 minutes, until set. Let the tart cool slightly and then transfer to the freezer to chill for about 15 minutes.
Slice the peaches into a bowl and toss with the remaining 2T sugar. Arrange the fruit in concentric circles over the custard. Remove the ring from the tart pan, present and serve!
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