Monday, July 25, 2011

"Whoopie Cushions, and Groucho Glasses. We're Breakin All The Rules"



So I basically took this recipe to court and made it pay me child support. I was feeling very froggy today and though I set out to the store with this perfectly fancy Food and Wine recipe in my back pocket, I somehow  found myself wandering the grocery aisles grabbing this and that  and things that were not  in the recipe and by the time I got home my cooking brain just decided to do whatever it wanted. This fruit tart is loosely, basically the Creamy Peach Tart in the most recent issue of Food and Wine. Somehow though it turned out to be a blackberry nectarine tart with a shortbread cookie and toasted walnut crust that was totally delicious but not at all what I had planned. Yeah, I can't really explain it. All this kitchen experimentation is really soaking into my brain and at this point I'm just waiting for my first huge disaster to rear it's ugly head. But until then, just enjoy the pretty pretty fruit tart.


Blackberry Nectarine Tart
Contributed by Grace Parisi for Food and Wine

2 cups shortcake cookies, such as Lorna Doone (5 ounces, about a sleeve and a half)
1/2 cup toasted walnuts
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sour cream
1 egg
2 tsp Orange zest
2 firm, ripe nectarines, cut into thin wedges
1 pint blackberries

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350°. In a food processor, combine the cookies with the walnuts and 2 tablespoons of the sugar and process until fine. Add the melted butter and pulse until the crumbs are evenly moistened. Press the crumbs into the bottom of a 9 inch tart pan or pie plate. Bake for 10 minutes, until the crust is set.
Meanwhile, wipe out the food processor bowl. Add the cream cheese, sour cream, egg, orange zest and 2 tablespoons of the sugar and process until smooth. Pour the custard into the crust and bake for 15 minutes, until set. Let the tart cool slightly and transfer to the freezer to chill, about 15 minutes (or the fridge for about 40, if your freezer is already full of stuff like mine is). In a bowl, toss the nectarines and blackberries with the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Arrange the fruit over the custard in whatever lovely pattern makes you happy. Slice and serve.

5 comments:

  1. Such a lovely pattern of fruits.

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  2. This looks fantastic! I just bought all the ingredients yesterday to make the peach tart lol!!!

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  3. This is so beautiful! I'm so glad that your decided to experiment--I think it looks more lovely with the blackberries added.

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  4. mmmm your adaptations sound ingeniously delicious :) i adore the walnut addition fo'shizzle. Lovely, so happy to have found your blog!

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  5. Shortbread cookie and toasted walnut crust...good idea. I haven't had a buttery Lorna Doone cookie for way too long so I wonder if I'd be able to lay off them long enough to make them into a crust.

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