Peach and Blueberry Free-Form Tart

This is a peach and berry free-form tart from the Once Upon A Tart cookbook. It was so delicious and a perfect summer treat! I think the whole thing was gone within 24 hours! I'm sure most of us have the cookbook but for those who don't I will post the recipe.

You first have to make the Flaky Tart Crust:

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

12 tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch cubes

5 tbsp solid vegetable shortening

A small glass of ice water

1 9-inch tart pan (with fluted edges and removable bottom)

1. Add the flour, sugar, and salt into a bowl and mix until even.

2. Add the butter and shortening all at once and mix with your fingers until the mixture forms little balls, like moist crumbs, and no chunks of butter or shortening remain. The book recommends using a food processor to mix the ingredients but I don't have one and the recipe tasted pretty good even without it:). Make sure to not over mix the ingredients. The worst thing that could happen at this stage of the crust-making game would be for the flours and fats to come together completely into a paste.

3. Sprinkle a tablespoon of ice water over the surface of the crumbs. Repeat with 3 more tablespoons of  ice water.

4. Use your hands or a wooden spoon to bring the dough together. Add more water if you have to, 1 tablespoon at a time. The dough should be just past crumbly and just barely coming together. You don't want it to be so wet that it sticks together or turns sticky-white in color.

*The rest of this recipe is all about par-baking or prebaking the crust and we don't do either of those for the tart we are making so I'm going to omit the rest.

Peach and Blueberry Free-Form Tart

6 big ripe peaches (2-2 1/2 pounds)

2 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup sugar

1 cup fresh blueberries (or raspberries, blackberries, boysenberries), rinsed and placed on a towel to dry (I used a mixture of berries that included blueberries, blackberries and raspberries)

1 full recipe Flaky Tart Crust dough (enough for 2 regular tarts)

1 large egg whisked with 1 tbls cream or milk (egg wash)

1/4 cup or more granulated or raw sugar for sprinkling

1. Position your oven racks so that one is in the center, and preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Have a 9-inch tart pan or a sheet pan nearby.

2. Cut the peaches in half to remove the pits. Holding a peach half over a big bowl, slice it into four or five wedges, letting the wedges drop into the bowl as you slice. Repeat with the remaining peach halves. Sprinkle the flour, cinnamon, and 1/3 cup sugar over the surface of the fruit. Don't just dump them onto the peaches or you'll have to toss them longer. Longer tossing means mushier fruit. Gently toss the peaches, using your hands or a big spoon, until the peaches are coated with the flour. Add the berries, and toss the fruit gently -- again, you don't break up the berries any more than is inevitable.

3. Roll out three-quarters of the tart dough (reserve the rest for another use) to 1/4 inch thick, making a roughly circular shape that is 12-13 inches in diameter. Fold the dough in half gently in order to move it to either your tart pan or your sheet pan. Unfold the dough. If you're using a tart pan, let the dough flop over the edges -- you are not going to be fitting the dough into the pan.

4. Dump the fruit into the center of the dough and spread the fruit evenly over a 9-inch area. Using a rubber spatula or the edge of your hand, scoop any remaining goop out of the bowl and onto the fruit.

5. Lift the excess dough that is around the edges of the fruit inward to cover the fruit. You'll have a few inches in the center of the tart where the fruit is not covered by the dough.

6. Brush the egg wash onto the crust with a pastry brush or a scrunched-up paper towel. Sprinkle the crust with enough sugar to cover the surface.

7. Place the tart on the center rack of the oven, and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the over temperature to 375 degrees and continue baking for another hour, until the fruit is soft and bubbling and the crust golden brown.

8. Remove the tart from the oven, and let it rest for at least 1/2 hour before serving. This tart is delicious served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.