Fresh Peach Tart

This was the first time in my life that I made a fresh fruit tart with pastry cream. 
Let's see how it went....

TART SHELL:
Makes enough for an 18cm tart.
80g flour
20g almond meal
30g sugar
40g butter, softened

Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.
Add flour and almond meal.
Mix till the dough comes together.
Press the dough onto cling wrap, wrap it up, and chill it for about half hour.
Roll out the dough till large enough to cover tart pan.
Press into a greased tart pan, pressing around the edges firmly and trimming away any excess.
Chill for at least half hour.


Next, blind bake the tart shell. (This means baking the shell on its own, since it has to be pre-baked cos the filling and topping need not be baked.)


Fill the tart shell with pie weights, or beans or rice. Even coins if that's the only thing you have. Basically, anything that will weigh the shell down, so it doesn't balloon when you bake it. 


Bake at 180*C for 10-15 min or until the edges are golden brown. 
Remove pie weights and allow to cool completely.

PASTRY CREAM:
125ml milk
2 egg yolks
40g sugar
4 tsp flour
4 tsp cornflour
10g butter
1 vanilla pod or 1 tbs vanilla extract
1/8 - 1/4 tsp cinnamon (to taste)
1 tsp Cointreau (orange liqueur)

Scrape out the seeds from the vanilla pod.
Add to milk and bring to a boil in a saucepan. Remove from heat. Set aside.

Whisk together egg yolks and sugar till thick and pale.
Sift in flour, cornflour and cinnamon and whisk till well combined.
Continue whisking, at the same time gradually pouring in the hot milk.
Strain the mixture back into the saucepan (to remove lumps).
Gently heat the mixture till mixture thickens, stirring constantly to prevent lumps.
When the mixture resembles custard, remove from heat and stir in the liqueur.

Transfer to a clean bowl and cover the surface of the pastry cream with cling wrap. (The cling wrap must touch the cream; this prevents a skin from forming.)
Allow to cool completely before spooning onto tart shell.

Arrange your favourite fruit onto the top of the cream, sprinkle icing sugar, and serve!

My mother-in-law passed me some fresh peaches, so I used them for this tart. And since it was fresh peaches, the colour is paler and more varied than the canned peaches we are more familiar with.  If you are using canned peaches, remember to drain the syrup. Other fruits that would be great for this tart are any berries, cherries, grapes, kiwi... well, you get it, just about any fruit you like!


In the end, I never got to sink my teeth into this tart. 
Except for the pasty cream, which I tasted cos the little black vanilla dots in the pale creamy pastry cream was just too enticing. And boy was it amazing!  Imagine, the seeds of one whole vanilla pod crammed in a modest 18cm tart shell.  Mmmmm...


You see, since the peaches were from my mother-in-law, I thought I'd make a tart for all of us. I took the tart to her in the morning on my way out, so she could have some after lunch. By the time I returned in the evening, it was all gone  :(  Well, I guess on the bright side, it must mean that it was decent tasting at the very least. 

I am submitting this to Aspiring Bakers #10: Easy as Pie (August 2011), hosted by Janine of Not the Kitchen Sink!

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Peaches & Cream

Inspired by Bakertan’s beautiful Puffy Strawberry Napolean Shortcake, I decided to attempt a somewhat scaled-down version. I’d never had the courage to embark on such a complex baking project before, and it was daunting. But I decided I would not limit my repertoire to just plain simple cakes. I should face up to the challenge!!

So I studied his (very long) recipe intently, and decided I would use peaches instead of strawberries, omit the puff pastry, and coat the whole cake with cream and ground peanuts. Plus a tweak here and there.

Here’s how I spent the most part of my Saturday…

Making the sponge cake:

(A)
5 egg whites
½ tsp cream of tartar
50g sugar

(B)
5 egg yolks
50g sugar
60ml oil
60 ml water (I replaced 10ml with liquor for that extra punch)
1½ tsp vanilla extract

(C)
110g cake flour
½ tsp baking powder

Note: I chose to make the batter in 2 separate batches (2 eggs then 3 eggs), but you can make the cake in 1 batch and slice it in half lengthwise.

 

For (A) – Whisk egg whites and cream of tartar till foamy and soft peaks form. Then gradually add sugar, and whisk till stiff peaks form.

Tip: When whisking egg whites, making sure that they are at room temperature will result in maximum volume. Also make sure that your mixing bowl and beaters have absolutely no oil/fat on it.

For (B) – In a separate bowl, combine all ingredients and beat till creamy and fluffy. The mixture should have increased in volume by about 4 times.

For (C) – Combine flour and baking powder thoroughly.

Sift flour into egg yolk mixture and fold very gently using a balloon whisk till just combined. A balloon whisk (vs a spatula) cuts through and combines the mixture more effectively, while minimising the loss of air.

 

Now, still using the balloon whisk, gently fold in the egg whites till the batter has a uniform colour.

Pour into a greased 8” baking tin, preferably with the bottom lined with parchment paper.

Bake at 160 degC in a water bath for 30-35 min, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

 
 
 
 

 
When done, remove from baking tin and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Making the whipped cream:
 
* 400ml whipping cream, very chilled
* 2 tbs icing sugar
* 1 tsp vanilla extract

1 – Place your metal mixing bowl and beaters into the freezer for at least half hour.
2 – Combine all ingredients and beat till creamy and stiff. Do not overbeat or the mixture will separate into butter and milk.

Preparing the peaches:

For convenience, I used sliced peaches from the can. Drain the excess syrup first.
Chop up several slices to smaller bits. These are for the cream layer between the 2 sponge cakes.

Putting it all together:

1 – Place a small amount of cream on the cake board, then position the first cake layer in the centre of the board. The cream will act as a glue and hold the cake in place.
2 – Slather on as much cream as you like on top of the first layer. Then sprinkle the peach bits over the cream. Top with more cream if desired.
3 – Place the 2nd sponge layer on top.
4 – Spread cream on top and around the sides of the cake.
5 – Sprinkle ground peanuts (or any nut of your choice) all over and remove excess.
6 – Using your creativity, decorate with peach slices or any fruit of your choice.
7 – Place in cake box and store in the fridge till ready to serve.