Peach Almond Cream Tart

Peaches are in season and once again a friend dropped off a bounty of peaches and plums. I saw a post on Instagram of individual peach tarts and decide right then I was going to make a peach tart. It looked like they may have added a cream to the tart. As live in an almond orchard valley in Central California, you would think almonds would be cheap here, but I've yet to find that. So I decide i was going to figure out how to make almond cream. After a little research I decide to mash up a few recipes to make this delicious Peach Almond Cream recipe. Enjoy this summer delight.

1. Pastry Tart Crust

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon sugar

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold butter (small cubes for easier mixing)

2. Almond Cream

7 ounces almond paste (usually sold on the baking aisle of major grocery stores. In the US it comes in tubes or small 8 oz boxes)

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons flour

1/8 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons Amaretto

3. Peaches and Sugar

2-4 medium peaches, peeled and thinly sliced

1 tablespoon Turbinado sugar

Handful sliced almonds

1. Pastry: I use my Cuisinart food processor for this, its the fastest easiest way to make this happen. You could use a pastry cutter and then do a little kneading, into a ball, just be careful to not over knead. For the pastry, place the flour, salt and sugar in the food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse to mix the dry ingredients a few seconds and then add the butter (I cube my butter into small pieces with a knife before putting it the processor), and pulse 10 - 12 times. While the motor is running pour in 1/2 cup of ice water down the feed tube. You will see the pastry quickly comes together into a ball. Dump this onto a floured surface and make sure you knead this into a ball, mine just about always is already in a ball, I just pat it together and wrap in plastic and refrigerate for an hour.

When ready to use take out of the refrigerator for a few minutes before rolling it out. I roll out the tart out just big enough to fit on my cookie sheet. I use either parchment paper or silicone sheet to line my cookie sheet. Fold over the edges to make a nice crust or leave flat.

2. Almond Cream: Place almond paste and butter in a food processor and blend. Add eggs and process until smooth. Add sugar, flour, salt, and Amaretto; process until combined. Pour the almond cream on your rolled out pastry dough. Smooth it a nice even layer over the entire tart (Not the folded over crust if you choose that route)

3. Add sliced peaches in a few rows. Be creative on how you want them to lay out. I like them in long rows. Sprinkle with the Turbinado sugar and almond slices and put in the oven.

Bake for 45 minutes to an hour in a 400 degree oven. Cool, slice and EAT.

Chocolate Gluten-Free Almond Cake

As you may already know I've been experimenting with gluten-free baking and my one foray into a vegan recipe, not so good.  In my gluten-free adventures I wanted to make something chocolate, go figure. Since visiting a local health store I've been stocking up on a few different flours. I really like Red Mill's choices. I decided to choose a Oat flour to go along with my Almond meal flour. Coconut flour is on my list to purchase, but it was a bit more expensive. Also, if you haven't already noticed, I almost always use some sort of bittersweet chocolate. I like the richness of it and can control the sugar myself. I am not a milk or white chocolate fan. Occasionally I use semi-sweet. I stock up on this around holiday times, since everyone bakes and bittersweet chocolate chips go on sale, mostly use Ghiradelli, but Trader Joes has a BIG bittersweet chocolate bar option.

Here's a cautionary note of WHAT NOT TO DO if your using a double broiler method to melt the chocolate and butter: #1 chop up the chocolate before putting it in the glass bowl with the butter and #2 NEVER use a knife in the bowl, while it's over the simmering water, that = exploding glass bowl. Yes I did this, and am fortunate enough to be spared glass in my eyes, or on my face, or taking out my jugular. Just a few shards of glass on my arm and ankle, with minor bleeding. Great way to start the day. An hour later, after I cleaned up both me and the kitchen, I started the recipe all over again, since there were shards of glass in my mixtures and pans, etc...

Despite my miss-adventures this recipe was a hit, and as usual I experimented on my friends who loved it too. 

Chocolate Gluten-free Almond Cake Recipe 

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate CHOPPED

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cubed

4 large eggs, separate the yolks from the whites and keep both

1/2 cup granulated sugar (half the sugar will go with the egg yolks and the other half with the egg whites)

1/3 cup plain whole-milk yogurt (I used non-fat Australian vanilla bean yogurt, because that is what I had on hand)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup almond flour (you can use hazelnut flour as an alternative)

1/4 cup oat flour (you can use buckwheat flour as an alternative)

Almond Slivers

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

Butter an 8-inch round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.

In a large, heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, don't let the bowl touch the water (SEE MY NOTE ABOVE FOR WHAT NOT TO DO). Melt the chocolate and butter until smooth, then remove from the heat and let cool slightly. You can also quickly melt this in the microwave.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, half of the sugar, yogurt, vanilla, and salt, then whisk them into the melted chocolate. Stir in the almond flour, and the oat flour.

In another bowl of a stand mixer, or hand mixer, whip the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Gradually whip in the other half of the sugar until the whites form firm peaks. Fold 1/3 of the whipped egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it, then fold in the remaining chocolate mixture just until it’s completely combined.

Pour the batter into the pan, level the top and then sprinkle a generous amount of Almond slices over the top, the more the merrier. This gives it a beautiful finished look and adds in extra crunch.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes; cake should be set and the center slightly soft.

Let it cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the cake pan and serve.

Enjoy! 

Almond Lemon Gluten Free Cake

I get so inspired by all the great photo's and blog post and especially about making things gluten-free. I tolerate gluten, but feel better when I don't partake of it. I saw this recipe and knew I had to give it a try. I still haven't been brave enough to try the vegan route...i just can't give up butter. This cake is really moist and very yummy. Give it a try.

Almond Lemon Gluten Free Cake
(Adapted from Cakelets and Dollies Recipe which was adapted from Donna Hay's Recipe)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp of vanilla extract

(NOTE: if you have a vanilla bean, use that, split and scrap out the seeds to put in the mix For my recipe I didn't have a vanilla bean on hand, so vanilla extract worked great.) 1/4 tsp almond extract (because why wouldn't you want more almonds)
Zest of 4 lemons, if you want in more lemony taste you can squeeze a little lemon juice, but this is already a very moist cake so be warned.  Original recipe called for 1/4 cup lemon zest which can be about 6 lemons.
4 eggs, separated, make sure you let them get to room temperature
2 1/2 cups almond meal (Surprisingly I found this at Trader Joes, but you should be able to find in a local health food store or Whole Foods)
10 1/2 oz ricotta
Flaked almonds, to decorated and add more crunchiness
Powdered sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 325. Butter 8-9 inch cake round, I use parchment paper on the bottom and also butter that, it makes it easier to get the cake out of the pan.

I used my KitchenAid stand mixer, but you can also use a regular beater. Mix softened butter, 1 cup of sugar, lemon zest, vanilla (either extract or vanilla seeds from the bean), until its pale yellow and creamy. I did this for about 6 minutes (thus why i like to use my KitchenAid stand mixer). Add in the separated egg yolks one at a time, that is if you didn't already blend them all together, in that case just drizzle egg yolks in a little bit at a time.  You'll need to scrape down the sides of the bowl through out the process.

Mix in the Almond Meal. Scrape down sides and take bowl from under mixer and fold in the Ricotta.

In a separate bowl mix the egg whites until white and fluffy, slowly pour in the 1/3 cup of remaining sugar until it makes glossy soft white peaks. Gently fold in 1/2 the egg whites, you want to make this a lite and airy cake, finally fold in the rest of the egg whites.

Pour mixture into cake pan. Sprinkle almond slices over the top, I covered mine as much as possible.  Put in the oven and bake for about 45 minutes. May need more time, I think I added about 8-10 more minutes to this, but test center with toothpick to make sure it comes out clean and the cake is fully baked. 

When you pull it out it look like a fluffy cake, once it cools down it deflates a bit. After it cools down dust with powdered sugar and serve. With coffee is great.