At this time of year, I love all the lovely, ripe stone fruit that’s around.  I think my very favourite summer fruit of all is a nectarine.  They seem to be available all the year round in the supermarket, but despite inviting red skins, they are invariably crunchy and flavourless when you bite into one.  The perfect nectarine is only really available in summer and should be sweet, juicy and an absolute delight to eat.

This tart is the perfect summer dessert with fragrant frangipane, melt in the mouth pastry and topped with perfectly ripe nectarines and raspberries.  This tart was devoured very quickly by the family.  You could use peaches, which are also super good at this time of year, but I tend to skin them first as the skins tend to be a little thicker.

Crust:
200g plain/all-purpose flour
100g cold unsalted butter Cut into Pieces
40g brown caster/superfine sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
2 egg yolks
Iced water if needed

Frangipane filling:
Seedless raspberry jam
140g ground almonds
100g brown caster/superfine sugar
½ tsp almond extract
2 large eggs
50g flour
1tbs orange zest

2-3 nectarines sliced in crescent shapes
A handful of ripe raspberries

Sieved, warm apricot jam to glaze

For this particular recipe, I have used a 36cm x 12cm rectangular tart tin, but it will also work for a 23cm round tin or you can use four individual 8cm, shallow tartlet cases.

Method:
Place flour, sugar, cinnamon if using and salt in the food processor fitted with the steel blade and mix.  Add the cold butter and pulse until just combined.  You should still be able to see small pieces of butter in the flour.  Add the yolks and pulse until the dough just starts to come together, using 1-2 tsp of the iced water if needed.

Tip out the dough and use your hands to form it into a ball, wrap in cling film and place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F

Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface and use to line your tart tin, pricking the base with a fork.

Line with parchment paper and fill with baking beans, rice, pebbles or whatever you are using and bake blind for 10 minutes, uncovering and then baking for a further 10-15 minutes – until the pastry is dry to the touch. Leave to cool a little.

While the pastry is baking, prepare the filling.

Frangipane filling:
Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  You can do this by hand or in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment fitted.  Mix in the almond extract, zest and eggs, added one at a time, making sure each is well combined before adding the next one.  Then add the ground almonds and finally stir in the flour until just combined.

Spoon a layer of raspberry jam over the cooled crust and then fill with the frangipane filling and top with the nectarine segments.  You don’t need to push the fruit in, the filling will puff up as it bakes and encase the fruit in the tart.

Bake at 180 degrees for 30-40 minutes, or until the top is golden and a cocktail stick come out clean.

Leave tart to cool a little and either dust with icing sugar or use the glaze below and serve.  This tart is good warm or cold, but won’t be around for long as its so delicious.

Glaze:
5-6 tbs apricot jam
1-2 tbs water

Heat gently in a pan until the jam melts and stir in water to thin slightly.

When the glaze is runny, remove from heat and strain out any fruit pieces into a bowl and brush onto the tart.

The fruit can be amended to whatever is good and in season.