Paleo Peach & Plum Tart

4 Aug

What comes with August in Massachusetts? PEACHES! Farmer’s markets have ruined me, in a very good way. I’ve had the most perfectly ripe, fresh, locally grown, dripping with juice delicious peaches. Gone are the days of being able to purchase these fruits at a grocery store. I only buy them fresh and in season. So peaches are now on the list of fruits I cannot buy at a grocery store. The strawberries my Dad grows in the yard – best ever! The grapefruit (white, Duncan grapefruit) that my grandfather grew – best ever! My grandfather spliced grapefruit trees together until he had made the perfect fruit producing trees and his yard (in Florida) was filled with them. When I was a kid I would just walk outside and pick one if I wanted one for breakfast. Although they were so huge and juicy I could only eat half of one 🙂 Everything that came from that yard (vegetables, fruit, citrus) was amazing and I’ve never had anything come close to it anywhere else in the world thus far. Dates my friend’s mother brought as a gift from Dubai – best ever! OH MY American dates are awful and can’t even touch the delicious little dried fruit (might as well be candy) that come from the Middle East! It really makes me wonder what all the other food I eat is supposed to taste like. If I have not had the opportunity to have a fruit or vegetable freshly grown and picked when ripe I probably don’t know what it is supposed to taste like, which is sad. I’m getting off topic. Back to peaches! So John’s mother had some very ripe peaches and plums in the house and asked me to do something with them. This paleo tart, which was a HIT, is what I came up with. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Crust

2 1/2 cups almond meal

1/2 tsp. kosher or sea salt

1/4 cup grape seed or canola oil

1/4 cup coconut nectar, agave, or honey

1 tbl. vanilla extract

Pastry Cream

6 large egg yolks

2/3 cup coconut nectar, agave, or honey

3 tbl. tapioca flour

One (13.66oz) can of Thai Kitchen full fat coconut milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Fruit

4 peaches, peeled and sliced

3 plums, peeled and sliced

~3 tbl. lemon juice

Method:

Crust

Preheat oven to 350F. Stir together almond meal, salt, oil, nectar, and vanilla. Press dough into the bottom and about an inch up the sides of a greased springform or tart pan. Dock with a fork and bake crust at 350F for 12-15 minutes, until golden. Remove from oven and cool completely.

Paleo Tart Crust

Pastry cream

Whisk egg yolks and nectar in your stand mixer with whisk attachment over medium (medium to medium high) speed until the yolks are light in color. Turn the mixer to low and add the tapioca flour. While the eggs are whisking, pour your coconut milk into a medium saucepan and warm the milk to steaming over low heat. Do NOT boil the milk! Once the milk is warm temper the egg mixture by adding a small amount of the warm milk at a time (a couple tablespoons) into the whisking eggs. Once you have incorporated about half of the milk into the eggs pour the entire egg mixture into the saucepan with the remaining milk. Cook the cream mixture over low heat stirring constantly for 15-20 minutes until it has thickened to the consistency of instant pudding mix pre-refrigeration. I was using a gas stove for this, it might take more time on an electric stove. Once thick remove the mixture from heat and stir in vanilla extract. Pour the pastry cream into a dish to cool. I placed plastic wrap in direct contact with the pastry cream and placed the dish in the fridge to cool. Have plastic wrap directly on top of the cream will prevent a skin from forming on the pastry cream.

Thickened Paleo Pastry Cream

Fruit

Peel and slice fruit and toss with lemon juice to prevent the peaches from browning.

Top your crust with cooled pastry cream and arrange your fruit on top of the pastry cream. Place the tart in the refrigerator to further set. Serve chilled.