I love summer, partly because I can eat peaches and apricots sans limites! My two favorites fruits are in season, and I only wait for summer to come, just to indulge in juicy peaches, nectarines, and apricots.

My friend Simon in France asked me why I was working so much, aren’t people gone on vacation in July-August in the US?…well it’s true that summer in France and Europe in general, is the dead season, especially July-August, where everything closes and businesses work “au ralenti“. Everyone goes on vacation and big cities are deserted. Well, not here, I cannot tell that this is summer, other than by the fog rolling in the city and the peaches and apricots are on the shelves (which is good enough for me).

I had some whole wheat pâte brisée left that I wanted to use, and decided to make one peach tart and one apricot tart slightly different. The peach tart was sprinkled with vanilla and I added cookies on the crust, so that they absorb the juice of the fruits while cooking. The apricot tart was sprinkled with rosemary and I spread raspberry jam on the crust…so two different flavors. You need to use well ripe fruits, especially apricots if they’re not ripe enough, they tend to be a little acidic and tart, then you need to add more sugar.

Ingredients for 4-6 tartlets

For the crust

• 200 g whole wheat flour
• 100 g butter
• 30 g sugar, soft at room temperature
• water

For apricot tartlets filling

• 1 lb apricots, well ripe and cut in half
• 2 tbs raspberry jam
• 1 tbs brown sugar
• 30 g butter, cut in small cubes
• 1 rosemary sprig

For the peach tartlets filling

• 4 peaches, peeled and cut in 1/2 inch slices
• 5 tbs crumbles shortbread cookies
• 2 tbs brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla powder
• 30 g butter, cut in small cubes

 Preparation

Start making the crust. In a mixing container, add flour and sugar, then incorporate butter using the tip of your fingers, not kneading dough too long, or it will break. Wrap in a plastic film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Roll dough and place in a tart pan. For the apricot tart, spread jam all over the crust and fill it with apricot halves. Sprinkle with sugar and place little bits of butter on top of the fruits. For the peach tart, cover crust with crushed cookies. Cover with peaches segments, sprinkle with vanilla powder and add bits of butter on top.

Cook for about 35 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 370F. Check to see the bottom of the crust is not over cooked.

I didn’t want to feature another dessert, but it was just impossible due the circumstances and to the encounter with an amazing citrus. I found the wonderful bergamot at my favorite store, which I never thought it was possible to find in the US. I am infatuated by bergamot scent and deeply in love with it. I just want to bathe in its scent and rub its peel all over my body.

Bergamot is quite famous in Nancy, my hometown… bergamot candies made with bergamot oil are a symbol of the city and the recipe is impossible to find, it’s somehow kept secrets among local “confiseurs” (specialists in making confiserie which include candies or any specialties made out of fruits, sugar or any sweet ingredient). They also make bergamot soaps that smell ridiculously good, you just want to eat them.

Bergamot scent is a pure delight, but very few eatable products contain that flavor, only Earl Grey tea, and some bergamot jam you can find locally in Nancy.  Bergamot is mainly used in perfumes, scents, essential oils, for healing purposes, etc.. and I am wondering why its use in cooking is not that popular, since its a citrus that looks like a big lemon with a smell and flavor that is pure delight. I know in some Moroccan dishes they used preserved bergamot instead of lemons, but that’s the extend of its use in the culinary world.

It ‘s very easy to get addicted to bergamot once you taste it, so be careful to not sink into it and turn into a bergamot junkie, like I am.

These tarts are superb, flavorful, citrusy, a tiny tarts and slightly bitter but so “parfumées” it’s like eating your favorite perfume in a mouthful. Imagine your eating your favorite Chanel or Dior perfumes…Besides, there’s little sugar, so they’re very light. I used a standard mixed flour crust whose recipe you can find here. You have to try bergamot, but the side effects are dangerous, you might develop a strong addiction to it.

Ingredients for 10 tartlets

For the crust, recipe here

For the filling

• 1 bergamot juice and zest
• 6 medium apples, peeled and sliced
• sugar (to taste)
• 2 tbs raspberry jam

Preparation

For the crust follow recipe.

In a mixing bowl, mix apples slices with juice of one bergamot and zest. Add sugar. Mix well and let it infuse for about 2-30 minutes.

Roll crust and cut in about 10 cm diameter circles. Remove slices from bowl, drain and kee the juice. Set the juice aside. Place apples slices on the dough circles. Cook in a pre-heated oven at 370F for about 30 minutes or until the bottom is golden brown.

Remove from the oven and let it cool but keep lukewarm.

Add raspberry jam to the bergamot juice you saved. Mix well to obtain a smooth mixture. Place one tsp of raspberry/bergamot mixture on top of the apples. Serve lukewarm.