Munich is beautiful in the summer, however the last few days have been unrelentingly hot and humid with none of our usual clear alpine sky showing through the high cloud. It was with relief that a huge thunderstorm rolled in last night and cleared the air, and a pleasure to wake up this morning to a cool, overcast day with gentle rain watering the balcony plants. A perfect day to spend in the kitchen, pottering around drinking lots of tea and listening to chilled music. A rest, a pause to recharge before the busy coming week.
I’ve had a couple of trays of Plattpfirsiche (or flat/Saturn peaches) sitting in the fridge for a week or so waiting patiently to be turned into jam. I’ve loved these peaches since first moving to Germany – they have such a delicate sweet peachy flavour and come away from the stone without sticking so they are easy to eat. Every year during their relatively short season they end up as breakfast several days a week, but I’ve been meaning to cook with them before they all disappear. Today, rather than a jam boiling day, felt like a cake baking day so I “borrowed” a few peaches from my stash to bake into this delicious tart I saw in Donna Hay magazine earlier in the year. The original recipe calls for figs, which I love, but in the spirit of household harmony I made it today with a fruit that we both enjoy.
This tart is gorgeous and rustic to look at, a breeze to make, has an incredible nutty, sweet, honeyed flavour and is so easily adaptable to whatever fruit you have in the house – it has a feel of a frangipane tart about it so would undoubtedly suit pears, peaches, plums, apricots or even berries. Perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon with a big dollop of crème fraîche, some slow jazz on the radio and a good book.
Peach, Honey & Almond Tart
(barely adapted from Donna Hay)
130g unsalted butter, softened
165g caster sugar
1 Tbsp finely grated lemon rind
1 Tbsp finely grated orange rind
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
3 large eggs
180g almond meal
75g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
80g flaked almonds
3-4 peaches, sliced (or other fruit to fit)
honey for glazing
Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F). Grease and flour a 26-28cm loose bottomed tart tin. Put butter, sugar, lemon and orange rind and vanilla seeds in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for about 6 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time beating well to before adding the next egg. Add the almond meal, flour and baking powder and mix to combine. Fold in the flaked almonds. Spoon into the tart tin and spread until smooth. Place the peaches into the almond filling, pressing down slightly. Place the tart tin on a tray and bake for 45 – 50 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven and, while still hot, brush with honey. Serves 8-10.
DAYS OF JAY 