Eat Dessert First: Rustic Peach Tart

Wow, how long has it been since I've done one of these? Too long. How am I going to become an awesome baker if I never bake? Shame on me - promising my readers baking recipes and such then never doing it. Well, let's just say today I turned over a new leaf! And today we have an EDF for you!

Rustic Peach Tart. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. In order to make this, I had to make my own pie crust first - yup, that's right all home made here. Well, except for the peaches but you can only expect so much from me. : )

**Note: If you have a pastry pie crust recipe you love, I'm sure you can use that, so I would just skip down to the actual peach tart part. And for those of you who are tempted to buy a pie crust - don't! The recipe I have is super easy and super good, so if you're going to make this you should just go all out and actual make the pie crust. So I highly recommend making your own pie crust - plus, you can either spend money to buy a pie crust and do a little less work or you can use the things you already have in your pantry and actually realize how easy this recipe is and feel pretty dang proud of yourself when you realize that you just made this whole thing by hand.

Pastry for Single-Crust Pie:
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup shortening
4-5 tablespoons cold water, divided

Directions:
In a medium bowl stir together 1 1/14 cup all-purpose flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Using a pastry blender, cut in 1/3 cup shortening until pieces are pea size.

Sprinkle 1 tablespoon cold water over part of the flour mixture, gently toss with fork. Push moistened dough to one side of the bowl.

Repeat moistening flour mixture, using 1 tablespoon water at a time, until all the flour mixture is moistened (about 4 to 5 tablespoons cold water).

Form pastry into a ball

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a circle about 12 inches in diameter. (We needed 13-inch diameter for the Rustic Peach Tart).

Wrap pastry circle around the rolling pin to transfer it.

Rustic Peach Tart
Ingredients:
1 recipe Pastry for Single-Crust Pie (see above)
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional) - I chose to leave out this option because I was confused about where I was supposed to use it at first, so I just passed on it. Maybe next time.
1/4 cup granulated sugar
4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
4 cups sliced, peeled fresh peaches or unsweetened froze peach slices - I chose the frozen variety because I wasn't sure when I was going to get to making this and I didn't want the peaches to go bad. And I'm glad I went with frozen because I didn't get this made until more than two weekend after I bought the peaches.
1 tablespoon run or lemon juice - I used lemon juice because I don't have rum and I didn't want to buy any for this. 
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon water
Peach or apricot preserves, melted (optional)
Powdered sugar

Directions:
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside. Prepare Pastry for Single-Crust Pie, except, if desired, add ground nutmeg with the salt. Roll pastry into a 13-inch circle; place on the prepared baking sheet.

In a large bowl, stir together granulated sugar and flour. Add peaches and rum (lemon juice); toss gently until coated. If using frozen peaches, let stand about 45 minutes or until fruit is partially thawed but still icy.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mound peach mixture in center of pastry, leave a 2-inch border. Fold border up over peaches, pleating pastry gently as needed to hold in juices. In a small bowl beat the egg and water with a fork; brush onto the top and sides of the pastry.

Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until pastry is golden and filling is bubbly. If necessary to prevent over-browning, cover edges with foil during the last 5 to 10 minutes of baking. Cool on the baking sheet for 30 minutes. If desired, brush filling with melted preserves. Dust pastry edges with powdered sugar. Serve warm. Makes 8 servings.

Hey, it may not be perfectly circular  but it looks pretty dang good! I really think it was that final touch of powdered sugar at the end. Which I got to use my sieve and I was pretty pumped about getting to use another toy too. I got to use all kinds of baking tools with this one and that was pretty dang exciting for me. For Rob he loves video games and electronics - those are his toys. For me, it's the kitchen. I love new appliances and gadgets and such - those are my toys.

So I know what you all want to know: How was it? Wouldn't you like to know? Ha, just kidding. It was delicious. I was pretty dang proud of myself. You should definitely try making this - or I guess you can try a different kind of fruit if you so chose too! But you should try it nevertheless.