Peaches & Cream And Berry/Chocolate Tart Recipes

Foodie Friday lesson: Chef Carla Hall always says there are “gonna be” moments, meaning it’s gonna be all right. This recipe is full of those moments.  I had on my list for my shopper to get me puff pastry. He brought me Phyllo dough.  I asked for raspberries. He brought me black berries.  I discovered this just as I was preparing to make the tarts for a ‘dish-to-pass’ end of season party at the campground.  I reassured my little shopper, “Gonna be all right.”

Peaches & Cream and Berry/Chocolate Tarts. (prep time: 20 minutes. <add another 15-30 minutes for the berries> Serves 12 each tart)

Peaches and cream tart:

1 large ripe peach (or a couple small ones), pitted, peeled and thinly sliced

½ lemon

½ C melted butter

12 sheets thawed phyllo dough sheets

1/3 C cream cheese, room temperature

4 Tb. cinnamon sugar

2 Tb. honey

pinch of salt

Keep a damp towel over the pastry once it’s out of the box to keep them from quickly drying out and tearing.

Place parchment paper at the bottom of a baking sheet.  If you don’t have parchment (gonna be…) butter the bottom of the pan and dust with flour.  Layer six pastry sheets on the bottom of the pan, buttering every two sheets. After the 6^th sheet, carefully spread the softened cream cheese about ¼ inch thick and sprinkle liberally with the cinnamon sugar.  Lay the peach slices on top of the cheese. Squeeze the juice of the half lemon over the peaches, followed by the zest of most of the lemon. Sprinkle with a little salt. It helps bring out the sweetness. Drizzle honey over the peaches.  You can shake more cinnamon sugar on top of that if you want.  Begin layering the last sheets of pastry on top of the peaches, again buttering every couple of sheets.  Brush the top with butter and shake more cinnamon sugar over the entire surface.  Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes until the crust is brown and the peaches are bubbling.  Drizzle more honey over the top before serving.

Berry/ chocolate tart

1 C. each blueberries, black berries and sliced strawberries

1/4 C. granulated sugar

8 Oreo cookies (or chocolate wafers), smashed

½ C. melted butter

12 sheets thawed phyllo dough sheets

2 Tb. flour

Pinch of salt

Place the berries in a bowl and evenly coat with sugar and allow to macerate (release their juices) for 15 minutes to a half hour.

After the berries have macerated, toss them with the flour. Line a baking sheet with parchment or butter and flour. Place two phyllo sheets lenghth-wise on the pan and butter.  Place the next two phyllo sheets cross-ways and butter. Keep alternating until all the sheets are used.  Some of the cross sheets may be off-set from the previous row of cross sheets. Evenly spread the crushed cookies on the pastry dough.  Dump the berries into the center of the pastry. I like to arrange the berries so they are evenly distributed. Sprinkle with a little salt. Fold over the sides and butter the top of the pastry.  Sprinkle the crust with granulated sugar.  bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

Thanks to Down to Earth Whole Foods Grant Avenue, Endicott for sponsoring Foodie Fridays.  Talk to them about the benefits of locally sourced whole foods. Gonna be all right!