Nectarine Tarts With Honey Ice Cream Food

NECTARINE TART

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Peel the nectarines and cut into slices. Toss with the lemon juice and a few pinches of sugar if the fruit is not too sweet. If the fruit is sweet and fresh skip the sugar. Set aside.
• Cream the sugar and butter in a bowl until light and fluffy. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and eggs and beat until combined.
• Spoon batter into a 10 inch pie pan (it will look like there is not enough batter but there is). Place the nectarine slices on top of the batter packing them in tightly. Sprinkle lightly with lemon juice and some sugar, depending on the sweetness of the fruit.
• Bake 50 to 60 minutes until golden brown. Cool. Refrigerate if desired. Sprinkle a bit of powdered sugar on top if desired.

NECTARINE TARTS WITH HONEY ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Unfold pastry and press on fold lines to flatten. Cut pastry into 4 squares. Cut off scant 1/2-inch-wide strip from each side of each square (for total of 16 strips). Pierce pastry squares all over with fork. Brush edges with egg glaze. Place dough strips atop edges of squares, trimming to fit. Press gently to adhere. Brush strips with glaze. Transfer to cookie sheet. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; freeze. Thaw 10 minutes before continuing.)
• Preheat oven to 400°F. Mix sugar, lemon peel, cinnamon and nutmeg in small bowl. Sprinkle 2 teaspoons mixture onto center of each pastry square. In medium bowl, toss nectarines with 2 tablespoons sugar mixture. Arrange nectarines diagonally in pastry squares. Brush nectarines with honey. Bake until pastries are golden, about 25 minutes. Transfer to plates. Serve warm with ice cream.

RUSTIC NECTARINE TART

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place folded pastry on a lightly floured work surface; roll out to a 12-by-14-inch rectangle. Trim edges to make even.
• Place pastry on a parchment-lined baking sheet. With a sharp paring knife, lightly score dough to form a 1-inch border. Using a fork, prick dough inside the border every 1/2 inch. Sprinkle the border with 2 teaspoons sugar. Refrigerate until slightly firm, about 10 minutes (or up to 1 day, covered with plastic wrap).
• Bake chilled dough until puffed and golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, gently toss sliced nectarines with 1 tablespoon flour, remaining 1/3 cup sugar, and salt.
• With a fork, press dough inside border to make level; arrange nectarines in rows on top (or pile nectarines on top and then spread evenly).
• Bake, loosely tented with foil, until nectarines have softened, about 10 minutes.
• Brush nectarines with warm jelly. Let cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes. To serve, cut into 8 pieces.

NECTARINE TART

Steps:

• Blend flour, salt and 2 tablespoons sugar in a bowl or food processor. Dice 8 tablespoons of the butter. Use a pastry blender or two knives to blend flour mixture and butter, or pulse them together in a food processor to make a crumbly mixture. Beat the egg yolk with 3 tablespoons cold water. Dribble it over the flour mixture, then stir or pulse slowly until the mixture starts clumping together. A bit more water may be necessary. Gather dough in a loose ball and form into a disk on a lightly floured surface.
• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out dough and line a 10-inch loose-bottom tart pan. Line pastry with a sheet of foil and spread pastry weights or dry beans on top. Bake 12 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the remaining butter, cooking it on low until it turns a light nut brown. Pit fruit (except figs) and cut in eighths or, if fruit is small, fourths. After 12 minutes, remove foil and weights from pastry. Return pastry to oven and continue baking until it is lightly browned, another 8 to 10 minutes. Remove pastry from oven and increase temperature to 400 degrees.
• Brush pastry with preserves. Arrange fruit in tight concentric circles, starting by placing it around the perimeter, skin side down, against the vertical sides of the pastry and standing it up as much as possible. Brush with melted butter. Dust with remaining sugar. Bake about 35 to 40 minutes, until edges have browned but fruit has not collapsed. Cool before serving with crème fraîche.