July is a month that makes me melancholy. As a child it was a dream month because I was at the seaside with my grandmother, but growing up it was always an anxious month with exam sessions and then with work that was always very demanding when everyone was super stressed by the heat. In recent years it has become melancholy for me. Seeing the sweating children in the city, the elderly alone and in difficulty, my parents (now just my mother) who have no advantage in this hot and tiring month. I dream of trips that I haven’t done in too long and so I reread cookbooks to distract myself and prepare jams with summer fruits.
Last summer I really liked the book “A Cake to Say Goodbye” with recipes by Nora Ephron who, for those who don’t know her, wrote sweet movies such as “When Harry Met Sally” or “Julia&Julia”.
One of the recipes I have made again and again is a peach tart. I changed the recipe because I prefer Italian type short crust pastry and above all I don’t like tarts and cakes too sweet.
Peach tart
- Preparation time: 60 minutes+fridge
- Ingredients for a 24 cm cake pan
- Difficulty: Easy recipe
- Ingredients
- For the short crust pastry:
- 230 grams of all-purpose flour
- 100 grams of butter
- 80 grams of icing sugar
- 3 egg yolks
- Grated lemon zest
- A pinch of salt
- For the filling:
- 3 red peaches
- 3 egg whites
- 30 grams of all purpose flour
- 100 grams of sugar
- 90 grams of sour cream
- Vanilla to taste
- Instructions
- Prepare the short crust pastry. In a bowl, whip the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, and finally the sifted flour. Mix just until it is no longer sticky. Roll the mixture into a ball and cover it with cellophane. Place it to chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours.
- Roll out between two more sheets of baking paper. Leave it in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes to chill again.
- Place the 3 peaches in a pan with boiling water and boil for a minute. Drain them and place them in a bowl of ice water and, after a few minutes, remove the peel. Cut them all into not too thin wedges.
- Preheat the oven to 170°C.
- In a buttered and floured tart pan, place a well-chilled disk of short crust pastry. Press down gently on the bottom and sides, trim off any excess pastry and stab a few holes in the bottom with a fork. Bake blind for about ten to fifteen minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare the filling by mixing the egg whites with the sugar, flour and sour cream with a whisk. Add vanilla to taste.
- Remove the tart from the oven and remove the baking paper with the beans, place almost all the peach slices on the bottom and then pour the sour cream mixture on top.
- Bake in the oven for another thirty minutes, covered with baking paper and five to ten minutes with the grill on to give color.
Tips to ensure the success of the dish:
- The blind baking should be done with a sheet of parchment paper placed on top and weight (to ensure it doesn’t swell) created with ceramic balls or dried beans.
- The timing of cooking in the oven is indicative because each oven cooks differently. The pastry should not darken too much.
- Her recipe: For the short crust: 125 grams of all purpose flour, 100 grams of butter, 2 tablespoons of sour cream, For the filling: 3 egg whites, 200 grams of sugar, 2 tablespoons of flour, ½ cup of sour cream.
