the teaches of peaches: GF tart for nicola

gluten does not get along well with my friend nicola... gluten insists on wrecking havoc on her body, should it get the chance, and that's just not nice. i wanted to make nicola a tart because she's kind and generous, and has been doubly so with our wedding, as has her husband, and, well, i like her. there are dessert shops that cater to folks with celiac disease here, and even an italian restaurant that has GF pasta, but homemade desserts are homemade desserts, am i right? ive made her dessert before, but i was really into the idea of making a special rosemary crusted tart. i would have followed the exact same recipe, save the crust, but i also wanted to try the custard with yogurt, and these peaches just fell into my basket while i was at the market, see, and there we are.

first, i preheated the oven to 350°/175°

ground almonds

next, i made almond flour by grinding up almonds--the trick is to get the flour fluffy and ground before it turns to almond butter. i used a 200g bag of almonds and produced 1⅓ cup flour.

i chopchopchopped a few sprigs of rosemary and combined the rosemary with the almond flour.



then i mixed the almond flour mixture with
3 tablespoons sugar
a pinch of salt
1/3 cup cold butter, cubed (75 g)
1 tablespoon water

these peaches didnt come in a can put there by a man in a factory downtown

i should not have used that much water. i greased a tart tin and started pressing the crust. the consistency was like wet sand and i really enjoyed myself. i was a dirt and sand connoisseur as a young child, and the texture was just right for mudpies, but a little too wet for tarts.

i baked the crust for about 15 minutes and let it cool, then added sliced peaches in a pretty design.





for the custard, i adapted the Apple Honey Custard Pie recipe from the Moosewood Cookbook (Mollie Katzen).

4 eggs
1 cup greek honey yogurt
1/4 tsp salt
1.5 tbsp honey
1 tsp-ish cardamon

i baked the tart for about 45 minutes at 375°/190°

and our whole place smelled like heaven. the edges were a bit caramelized, but if this tart tastes anything how it smelled? bliss.

ETA: what nicola thought of the tart

tart with heart: rosemary crust filled with lemon coconut custard

not so long ago, i stumbled across a recipe for a tart with rosemary crust. good gravy, thought i, that sounds amazing. i could not get the idea out of my head.

pie crust: just out of oven, awaiting filling

i was waiting for the right moment to bake the pie. we had a small gathering of folks the other night, and it was the perfect occasion. the crust recipe follows, and the directions are on happyolks page:

1 1/3 cup flour
3 tablespoons sugar
lots of fresh rosemary, chopped
pinch of salt
1/3 cup cold butter, cubed
1-2 tablespoon ice water



one of our friends is lactose intolerant so i decided to use coconut milk for the custard base instead of milk or cream. i was going to make the custard totally vegan, but we have no agar agar (im going to look in the japanese market for kanten to see if i can find some), and i didnt want to try too grand of an experiment when we had company coming.


meanwhile, while the crust was baking, i combined one cup sugar with one cup boiling water to make a simple syrup. i sliced a lemon and put the pieces into the syrup and let it go to town. i never had the syrup at a roaring boil, but just simmering.  after about 40-ish minutes, i dropped the candied lemon slices onto a sheet of parchment on my drying rack.  after the tart was baked, these were used for decorative (and delicious) purposes.

for the custard i used:
a small box of coconut milk, which equals about a cup
3 eggs
juice and zest of one lemon
sugar to taste (i like lemony zing so i didnt use a whole lot--a little more than 1/4 cup?)
1 tbsp cornstarch


i made a cornstarch paste with a spoon full of water and wisked it into the coconut milk, followed by the sugar, lemon juice, and zest.

i baked the pie at 325°/160° until it set and was turning a gorgeous gold. we gave it a wiggle test at about 30 minutes in and let it hang out for a moment more.  we let it cool for a bit and then set out to make the tart pretty.

i put the cooled lemon slices on the tart and then i handed over the show. at laura's request, ryan went out to find some flowers (he came back with honeysuckle! as well as other pretty flowers), and she used flowers and rosemary sprigs.

she did a GORGEOUS job.  there was much oooooooohing and aaaaaaahing from our guests.  and the tart's taste was truly a delight.  all the flavours danced together marvelously.

but we werent only serving pie.  the guests all brought food to share, and we also contributed some other tasty treats.

using a technique i learned in china, i chopped some chanterelles with some chives, stuffed squash blossoms, and steamed the whole lot.

christian made chocolate mousse

laura made cod with lemon and coriander.

and i made another batch of pretzels.

we crowded onto the balcony and shared belgian beers and ate to our heart's content until the rain sent us inside.

and while everything was good, i just keep thinking about that tart.   the herb in the crust worked so well that i'm fantasizing about future flavour combinations.  i want to give it another go but use honey greek yogurt and peaches or nectarines.  and i want to try some savoury blends as well.