Longtime readers will recall that on a trip to Nice, France, I had a transcendent peach tart. After nearly a decade of tinkering and dozens of peach tarts later, I think I have something that comes close to its inspiration.

From experience, it’s important that you have very ripe peaches. Not that the tart won’t work if the peaches are firm. But there’s something rather wonderfully decadent eating fruit that almost melts in your mouth in contrast to the crisp and buttery tart shell.

I use white peaches here, mimicking the original I had in Nice, but I don’t think you’re compromising too much if you used more typical yellow peaches.

Ingredients

For the glaze

  • 15 g unsalted butter
  • 10 g lemon juice
  • 15 g granulated sugar

For the tart

  • 350 g pâte brisée
  • 500 g (about 4) white peaches, peeled, halved, and cut into wedges
  • 30 g fine almond flour
  • Crème fraîche (optional)

Method

Prepare a baking tray with a Silpat or parchment, and center a 24 cm (9.5") tart ring on the tray.

Roll out the pastry dough to approximately a 2 mm thickness, large enough for the tart ring. Drape the pastry dough over the ring, pushing the dough into the corners. Run a rolling pin over the rim of the tart ring to remove the excess dough. Using a fork, gently prick the base of the dough.

Chill the prepared dough for 20-30 minutes in the refrigerator.

Preheat an oven to 220 °C (425 °F) with fan (convection) if available.

Prepare the glaze: combine the butter, lemon juice, and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Heat the mixture and whisk until the butter has melted and the mixture is homogeneous.

Sprinkle the almond flour into the prepared tart shell, using an offset spatula or clean hands to spread it into an even layer across the bottom. Then shingle the peach slices in concentric circles into the tart shell over the bed of almond flour.

Brush the top of the peaches with the prepared glaze.

Transfer the tart to the preheated oven. Bake the tart for 10 minutes.

Then, lower the oven to 200 °C (400 °F) with fan (convection) if available. Bake the tart for a further 20 minutes. The tart shell should be crisp and golden, and the peaches should be soft and almost burnt black at the edges.

Remove the baked tart from the oven and allow it to cool for 1 hour prior to serving.

Optionally, serve slices with a dollop of crème fraîche.