Ingredient: unsalted butter, chilled

Roasted Fruit Tart w/ Cinnamon Crust

Since stone fruit is so gorgeous when in season, why not make a fruit tart? Not just an ordinary fruit tart, but one bursting with an array of colorful fruit and roasted to bring out all the natural sweetness.

I like this tart in the fall made with apples, but since we can enjoy the seasons stone fruit bounty right now, let’s take advantage of it. When we were shopping for fruit, we came across some apricots called raspberry apricots. Their flavor is absolutely incredible. Of course the plum/apricot cross (pluots) is pretty special as well. I decided on a nice cinnamon-y pastry to highlight all these wonderful fruit flavors!

 Roasting stone fruits concentrates their sweetness and flavor, creating a depth of taste unrivaled by a regular fruit salad. The cornstarch in the filling acts as a thickener to prevent the fruit juices from making the base soggy while it bakes. And the open-faced top exposes the fruit to the oven’s heat, allowing it to caramelize and concentrate its flavor. What’s not to love!

Print Recipe
 Roasted Fruit Tart w/ Cinnamon Crust
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
Course dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword roasted fruit tart w/ cinnamon crust
Servings
Ingredients
Cinnamon Crust
Filling
Course dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword roasted fruit tart w/ cinnamon crust
Servings
Ingredients
Cinnamon Crust
Filling
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
Instructions
Crust
  1. In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon & salt. Cut in butter with a fork or finger tips to form a crumbly mixture. Drizzle in beaten egg & combine until mixture just begins to come together. Lightly press mixture into the bottom & up the sides of a 14 x 4 x 1-inch tart pan. Chill until firm while you prepare the filling.
Filling
  1. Toss prepared fruit with sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest & juice, vanilla & salt.
Assembly
  1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
  2. Arrange fruit mixture over pastry in pan. Press down slightly into pan.
  3. Bake until the fruit is soft & cooked through, the fruit juices are bubbling & the crust is a golden brown about 40-50 minutes. Remove from oven & allow to cool for about 20-30 minutes.

Chocolate Macadamia Nut Wedges

Despite originating in the rain forests of Queensland and New South Wales in eastern Australia, macadamia trees were first commercially grown in Hawaii. These slow growing, tropical evergreen trees flower differently from most other fruit and nut trees. The macadamia tree grows racemes; a flower cluster with separate flowers along the stalk at equal distances on a central stem. A 10 cm stalk can carry hundreds of tiny flowers. Each raceme spray of 40-50 flowers produces from 4-15 nutlets which ripen into macadamia nuts. These nuts are coveted for their sweet buttery flavor and creamy texture. It takes machinery to crack the shell, which may explain why they rank as the world’s most expensive nut.

We are fast approaching the Christmas season when all things ‘decadent‘ are up front and center in our dessert plans. Some years ago, I made a chocolate macadamia nut flan for a Christmas company gathering. I baked it in a large tart pan, cut it into eight slices, then cut each slice into four ‘wedges‘. It was a good way to serve such an elegant (& expensive) dessert at a stand-up event.

I was thinking of desserts that could be made and frozen ahead of all the hustle and bustle. So nice to pull such decadence out of the freezer and serve on short notice.

Macadamia nuts pair particularly well with coconut, chocolate and fish. They can be substituted for other nuts measure for measure in most recipes and visa versa without compromising the integrity of the original recipe. Some acceptable choices would be Brazil nuts, hazelnuts and cashews.

While this recipe is a bit time consuming, it is well worth the effort.

Print Recipe
 Chocolate Macadamia Nut Wedges
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
Course Brunch, dessert
Cuisine American, European, Filipino
Servings
Ingredients
Crust
Filling
Course Brunch, dessert
Cuisine American, European, Filipino
Servings
Ingredients
Crust
Filling
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
Instructions
Crust
  1. In a food processor, combine flour, salt & butter. Using short pulses, process until the mixture resembles oatmeal. Add ice water & pulse quickly until the mixture begins to come together but don't let it actually form a ball. Transfer the mixture to a lightly floured surface & gather it into a ball with your hands. Gently flatten into a smooth disk about 1 1/2-inches thick & wrap it in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm enough to roll out, at least an hour.
  2. Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface into a 14-inch circle, about 1/8-inch thick. Fit into an 11-inch round tart/flan pan with a re-movable bottom; trim dough flush with rim. Chill 30 minutes or overnight.
Filling
  1. Preheat oven to 400 F. In a large bowl, whisk together egg, sugar & liqueur until combined. Whisk in flour & salt then butter. Stir in chocolate until combined. Pour into chilled pastry shell. Arrange whole nuts on top.
  2. Bake 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 F. & continue baking until crust & filling are golden, about 35 minutes more. If tart is browning to quickly, tent with foil. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool completely.
  3. To serve, cut tart into 8 slices then cut each slice into 4 'wedges'.
Recipe Notes
  • You'll notice the chocolate forms a layer on the bottom. If you want it to have a more decadent look, just drizzle a bit more chocolate on top after it's baked.