I have been away from the blog for a little while - visiting my parents and cat-sitting in London; and have struggled to find the time (and motivation - the weather has been so warm I have just wanted to be outside) to do any blogging, so apologies to those of you who have commented and I haven't yet replied to, service shall resume as normal as of now! I did not stop baking however; so I do have a few delicious things to share with you, the first of which is these gorgeous peach, pistachio and rose tarts.
There are so many fantastic fruits in season at the moment - I just can't get enough of them, so prepare for lots of recipes involving fruit! I have been eating at least one peach a day, if not two, so I just had to bake something with them; my original thought was to make peach frangipane tarts, which are a classic (and delicious) combination; but I decided to go a little more exotic, replacing the almonds in the frangipane with pistachios, and adding a drop of rosewater. They are wonderfully fragrant and summery, the flavour almost Middle Eastern, and are the perfect treat to enjoy on a warm summers evening.
They aren't difficult to make, but do need to be eaten soon after baking, definitely on the same day, as after a while the juice will seep out of the peach and make them go a little soggy. You can make the pastry and blind bake the cases a day in advance though, and the frangipane will keep in the fridge for a couple of days, just let it come up to room temperature before using; so they can be very quick to make if you do a bit of advance preparation. Do make sure that you aren't too heavy handed with the rosewater, a little goes a long way and you don't want to end up eating something that tastes like potpourri; use no more than ⅛ tsp. I decorated mine with chopped pistachios and freeze dried raspberry pieces, but if you happen to have some crystallised rose petals to hand they would also be beautiful scattered around the edge of each tart.
Peach, Pistachio & Rose Tarts
Ingredients
Pastry
- 100 g (¾ cup + 2tbsp) plain flour
- 60 g (¼ cup) cold unsalted butter, cubed
- 20 g (¼ cup) icing sugar
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 1 egg yolk
Filling
- 40 g (1.5 oz) pistachios
- 25 g (scant ¼ cup) ground almonds
- 50 g (scant ¼ cup) softened butter
- 40 g (scant ¼ cup) caster sugar
- 1 medium egg
- 10 g honey 1 tsp
- 1.5 tbsp plain flour
- ⅛ tsp rosewater
- 2 peaches ripe but firm
- 1 tsp sugar
To Finish
- 1 tbsp runny honey
- 25 g (1 oz) chopped pistachios
- freeze dried raspberry pieces
Instructions
- Mix together the flour, icing sugar and salt in a bowl, add the butter and rub in with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs (or blitz in a food processor), mix in the egg yolk and bring together into a soft dough, adding a little ice water if necessary. Shape into a disc, wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for at least half an hour.
- Divide the pastry into four equal pieces. Roll each piece out on a lightly floured surface and use to line four 10cm round tart tins, pressing the pastry right into the corners. Fold the excess pastry over the rim but don't trim it off. Prick the base of each a couple of times with the tines of a fork then place in the freezer for 15-30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Line each of the tart cases with greaseproof paper and fill with baking beans, bake for 15 minutes then remove the baking beans and paper and return to the oven for a further 5 minutes until pale golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool while you prepare the filling.
- Blitz the pistachios in a food processor until they are finely ground. Whisk together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy then beat in the honey, egg and flour. Finally mix in the ground pistachios, almonds and rosewater.
- Halve, stone and peel the peaches. Divide the pistachio filling between the pastry cases and place a peach half cut side down on top of each, sprinkle with a little sugar.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until the frangipane has set (a toothpick inserted should come out clean). Leave to cool in the tins for about 15 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack. Gently heat the tablespoon of honey until it is runny then brush the top of each tart with some of the honey. Sprinkle chopped pistachios and freeze dried raspberry pieces around the edge of each tart.
- Best served soon after baking and definitely on the same day or they will go soggy.
Notes
I am sharing these with Create Link Inspire, Foodie Fridiy, Fiesta Friday hosted by Caroline's Cooking and Safari of the Mind , Foodie Friends Friday, Fabulous Foodie Fridays and Friday Favourites
Girl and the Kitchen
OMG are these beautiful!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE them!!!
hannahhossack
Ha ha! Thank you! 🙂
Julie is Hostess At Heart
These tarts are just beautiful. They look so classy and would really dress up a table or make a guest feel special.
hannahhossack
Thanks Julie 🙂 I was really happy with how pretty they looked!
bakeplaysmile
Oh wow!!! They are quite possibly the prettiest little things I've seen all week. Love the flavours you've used... and peaches own my heart, hands down!!! Thanks for linking up with our Fabulous Foodie Fridays party! xx
hannahhossack
Lol! Thank you! I was really pleased with how pretty they were 🙂 I have been eating so many peaches recently, they are soo good at the moment! x
Angela @ Only Crumbs Remain
Oh these look gorgeous, so enticing! And I have some freeze dried raspberries in the cupboard! I know what I shall be making! Popped over from FFF.
hannahhossack
Thanks Angela 🙂 Freeze dried raspberries are great for decoration (and they're tasty too! 🙂 )
Angie
These sound so yum!! Pinning this for now to try later when peach season starts over here. Just beautiful, Hannah! 🙂
hannahhossack
Thanks Angie 🙂
aiming4simple
These look heavenly! How I love a good peach!
hannahhossack
Thank you! I have been eating so many peaches recently! 🙂
coconutcraze
This tart is an ultimate beauty! Allow me to crown it as this year's 'Tart queen'! That cut piece on the fork is making me drool!
hannahhossack
Ha ha! Thank you! 🙂
carolinescookingblog
These look so pretty, and completely my type of flavors so I am pretty sure I would love them. Shame I can't eat them off the page! Thanks for sharing with Fiesta Friday.
hannahhossack
Thanks Caroline 🙂
Sarah James
Wow, your peach tarts look absolutely delicious, I love the sound of the rose & pistachio flavours. Popping over from #CookBlogShare
hannahhossack
Thank you! The rose and pistachio is delicious 🙂 very fragrant and exotic
Lauren @ Create Bake Make
I don't think I'd have any trouble eating these the same day I made them, they look delicious! Thank you for linking up with us for Fabulous Foodie Fridays this week, have a great week!
hannahhossack
Lol! I certainly didn't have any issues eating them quickly! Thanks Lauren 🙂
skd
Precious jewels. That's what they seemed to me on the first look. Very very pretty. It will be hard to eat them
hannahhossack
Thank you! I was reluctant to cut into them but once I'd tasted it I had no issues eating them!
Lili
They're so beautiful!!! And they look delicious too - lovely way to use peaches. Thank you! 🙂
hannahhossack
Thanks Lili 🙂
lucyparissi
Oh my goodness! They look straight out of a Patisserie window. Beautiful flavour combinations and always beautiful photographs. Thanks for linking with #CookBlogShare
hannahhossack
Thank you! I was sooo pleased with how pretty they turned out, it makes my day when my baking exceeds expectations! 🙂 x
Must Love Home
Hi there Friend, you are so creative! Thank you for joining in at the Friday Favorites Link Party! Please join us again to share what you have been working on this week. Christine @ Must Love Home
sarahgiebens
Those tarts look incredible!
hannahhossack
Thank you!
Stacey Guilliatt (Nobody Said It Was Easy)
Oh my, these look absolutely divine, so so pretty! #tastytuesdays
hannahhossack
Thanks Stacey 🙂