Cherry Almond Tart
I love cherries— the texture of them, the juiciness of them, and the fact that they have two seasons a year: first early in the summer, then in late summer. Even with two seasons, I never feel like I have had enough. To remedy that I often buy more than we can eat to pit and freeze for later in the year. I didn’t have a chance earlier in the summer to make this tart but when I saw cherries in the market last week, I was ready. The following recipe is from Suzanne Goin’s cookbook, Sunday Suppers At Lucques.
The texture of this crust is cookie-like, and the hint of almonds combines beautifully with the cherries. For the filling, the sugar is caramelized and then the cherries are added, giving them a depth of flavor not found in a regular cherry pie. The crust is easy. You don’t have to roll any pastry dough, just use your fingers to press the dough into the pan. You could make the crust the day before and store it in the fridge overnight, then make the compote and bake the pie the following day.
Baked almond crust and cherry compote ingredients
Ingredients:
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick)
½ cup of toasted almonds
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon almond extract
cherry compote (recipe below)
Toast the almonds in a 325° oven for 10 minutes and cool. While the almonds are toasting, melt the butter. In a food processor bowl add the toasted cooled almonds and the sugar. Process until they are coarse but not paste. Add the flour and salt, and pulse to combine. Add this mixture to a medium bowl and toss in both extracts and the melted, cooled butter along with one tablespoon of cold water. Using a wooden spoon or your hands, combine the mixture until it starts to form a ball. Press the dough into a 9” tart pan, making sure you get it into all the edges with a consistent thickness. Chill for at least one hour or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350°
Using a fork, prick the bottom and edges of the crust. Lay a large piece of parchment paper over the top of the crust and fill with pie weights, beans, or rice over the entire bottom of the crust. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly golden. Cool completely before taking out the weights. Once cool, fill the tart with the cherry compote (recipe below); use a spatula to push the mixture around gently so that it covers the bottom of the tart shell completely and is level. Bake for one hour. Serve with ice cream or crème fraiche.
Cherry Compote:
2 ½ lbs. pitted sweet cherries
1 vanilla bean pod
½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon brandy
1 tablespoon cornstarch
In a small bowl add the cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of water; mix to combine and set aside.
Scrape the seeds and pulp from the vanilla bean and add them to a large heavy-bottomed sauté pan along with the pod, the sugar, and ¼ cup of water. Cook over medium heat without stirring. Once it starts to darken, swirl the pan until the color is an even copper color. When the caramel is all the same color add the cherries and the brandy and swirl the pan again. The caramel will seize up like a candied apple, but it will melt again once the cherries warm up. Cook for about 4-5 minutes until the fruit starts to soften. Drain the cherries and add the liquid back into the pan. Whisk in the cornstarch mixture and bring to a boil. Cook until it starts to thicken. Add this mixture to the cherries, combine and let the compote cool.
