De saison – Tarte à l’abricot et romarin

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.