Too much ripe fruit? Thaw some butter – it’s time to make tarts!
Fresh Fruit Tarts with Streusel Topping from Bret’s Table
Makes 10-inch tart or Ten 3 ½ inch tartelettes
Now is the time to take advantage of the fresh plums that are spilling over the bins at your local market or farm stand. I used a combination of Toka, and Mount Royal plums. For the figs I was lucky to find organic mission figs from California. If plums and figs are not available use nectarines, or quartered pears.
About 1 quart fresh plums, quartered and pitted
1 pint, fresh figs, quartered
For pastry dough:
2 ¼ cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 ¼ ounces almond flour or slivered almonds
8 tablespoons (4 ounces) cold PastureLand unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
½ teaspoon kosher salt
7 to 9 tablespoons ice water
For frangipane filling:
7 ounces almond paste, room temperature (preferably Odense brand)
8 tablespoons (4 ounces) PastureLand unsalted butter, softened
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
⅛ teaspoon pure almond extract
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Streusel Topping
½ cup (2 ¼ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
½ cup (packed or 4 ounces) golden brown sugar
3 tablespoons (1 ½ ounces) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
½ cup sliced almonds
½ cup quick oats
Equipment: an 11-inch flan ring or round tart pan (with removable bottom); or 10 – 3 ½ inch individual tart rings, parchment paper, silpat, pie weights or dried beans
Making the Pastry Dough:
If using almond flour, this process can be completed by hand. Using a pastry blender, two butter knives or your fingertips, in a bowl, blend together flours, salt and butter. (If using slivered almonds, pulse the almonds first until finely ground in a food processor.) Then add remaining ingredients and pulse just until mixture resembles coarse meal with some small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps.
Drizzle 5 to 6 tablespoon ice water evenly over mixture. Gently stir with a fork (or pulse) until incorporated. Squeeze together a small handful of dough. If it doesn’t hold together, add more water, ½ tablespoon at a time, stirring (or pulsing) until incorporated. Do not overwork dough, or pastry will be tough.
Turn out onto a work surface. With heel of your hand, smear portions of the crumbled mixture in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather dough together, with a pastry scraper and repeat until all the flour and butter come together as one mass. Press into 2 (5-inch) disks and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill until firm, at least 1 hour.
Make tart shell:
Set flan ring on a silpat or parchment-paper-lined baking sheet. If making one large tart, roll out only one disk of dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 13-inch round, then fit into flan ring and trim excess dough. If making individual tarts, use both disks of dough and cut out ten 5-inch rounds fitting into rings the same as would be formed for the large ring. Lightly prick bottom of shell all over with a fork. Freeze until firm, at least 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375°F with rack in middle.
Line with parchment paper and fill with pie weights. Bake until side is set and edge is pale golden, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove parchment and weights and bake until bottom is golden, about 10 minutes more. Cool completely in pan, about 30 minutes. Leave oven on.
Streusel Topping:
While shell(s) are baking, in the bowl of a food processor, pulse flour and brown sugar just until combined. Add butter and pulse about 10 times or until butter is broken into 1/4 inch pieces. Add nuts and oats and pulse until butter and almonds are coarsely chopped. Set aside until ready to use.
Make frangipane filling and bake tart:
While the shell(s) are cooling, using the paddle attachment beat almond paste, butter, sugar, extract, and salt in a bowl of a stand mixer at medium speed for 3 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in flour. Set aside until ready to use.
Spread frangipane filling in cooled shell. Place fruit in concentric circles to completely cover the filling. Sprinkle with streusel topping and bake until puffed and golden, 30 to 40 minutes. Transfer tart on parchment to a rack. Cool to room temperature and serve.
