smitten kitchen

Has it really been nearly two years we talked about the Simplest Apple Tart? What a bummer, I say, a darn shame because there’s no reason to limit this pared-down approach to fruit desserts to apple season. Stone fruits are a natural match for this type of open, single crust tart — they bake up gorgeously, don’t lose so much liquid that you end up flooding the crust (or your oven floor) and oh, they’re all so flawless right now that even nectarines, which unfairly play second fiddle to peaches, deserve their own day in the spotlight.

Plus? It’s ridiculous easy to make. A single pie crust, a brush of melted butter, a sprinkling of sugar and big wedges of peak-season fruit, in this case, arranged on a bed of ground almonds, baked until the edges are browned and the fruit is starting to caramelize. You don’t need a tart pan or pie plate, you don’t need streusel toppings or intimidating slabs of dough rolled out to uber-specific measurements and frankly, you don’t even need a recipe for this kind of approach — something I proved by managing in my spaced-out mental lala land of 36 weeks of pregnancy to fudge almost every step. You don’t even need a proper excuse to make this; “it’s 3 p.m. and I really ought to do something with those nectarines” was enough for me.

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So far, the summer in New York City has been relentless–hot, sticky, humid or rainy just about every single day, and often a combination of all four, so I wasn’t kidding when I said this heat is getting to me, and has all but sapped my desire to cook. But I didn’t mean “cook” per se–I don’t wish to eat take-out every night–I meant the kind of cooking that requires the oven to be on for more than 10 minutes.

Besides, why would you even need to cook for longer than that in the dead of summer? The farmers’ markets are teeming with the kind of produce that require no or minimal heat to make them tasty, like zucchini and tomatoes and perfect stone fruit that can be easily sliced on top of a tart with an eight minute spicy gingersnap crust and a mascarpone and sweet cheesy custard filling.

I had a barely-baked tart like this on my mind since I spied one that the adorable Shutterbean made for Father’s Day with cherries and a graham cracker crust. It seemed so smart for summer–everything that everyone loves about cheesecake, minus the bad proportions (I’ve always preferred a thicker crust and thinner cheesecake than you normally get) and long baking time–i.e. perfectly suited for summer.

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