Emily's peach and almond tart

One of the things I love about social media is that it's just that: social. You make friends with people through exchanging tweets and 'liking' their images on Instagram.

Emily is an Instagram friend where she posts as emilyscotthk. She's the very talented chef at the St Tudy Inn near Bodmin in Cornwall and uploads beautiful pictures of her restaurant, her food and the surrounding Cornish countryside and coast. I asked her for a seasonal recipe and she came up with this delicious tart.

Emily writes: "Peaches evoke memories for me sitting outside for breakfast on my grandparents’ terrace in the South of France with the wonderful scent of lavender and rosemary and the sound of the busy crickets.

A peach and almond tart is a lovely end to any meal, a perfect summer fruit. Substitute other fruit such as raspberries, apricots, blackberries or plums instead of peaches depending on the season. A household favourite, especially with my children.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

For the peaches:

4-6 peaches, washed, skinned and sliced.

For the pastry:

250g /8oz plain flour

20g/1oz caster sugar

1 whole free-range egg

1 free-range egg yolk

125g/4oz unsalted butter

A little cold water

For the almond filling:

200g/7oz ground almonds

200g/7oz unsalted butter at room temperature

200g/7oz caster sugar

2 whole eggs

grated zest of 1 lemon

You will also need a 23cm round tin about 2.5cm deep or 6 individual 12x7.5cm/3in fluted mini tartlet tins (as pictured)

Method:

Pastry:

Place the flour in a food processor along with the sugar, whole egg and yolk. Dice the butter into small cubes and add to the bowl. Blitz. Add a tablespoon of cold water and continue to process, the dough will begin to come together into a smooth ball. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes while you make the filling.

Filling:

Place the softened butter with the sugar and mix until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time. Fold in the ground almonds. When finished you should have a soft paste that quite easily drops from a spoon. Remove from the bowl and stir in the lemon zest.

When ready to use. Generously flour your work surface. Roll out the pastry and line your tart case or cases with it, pressing firmly into the sides with your thumb. Chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas5. Remove the tart case/s from the fridge. Pour in the almond filling and arrange the peaches decoratively – and return to the middle shelf of the oven. Cook for 35-40 minutes more or until the surface is golden brown and the top is firm to the touch. (Individual tarts will only take 15 -20 mins.)

Cool and serve with a jug of pouring cream or a dollop of crème fraîche.

What to drink: This is exactly the sort of dessert that shows off a good dessert wine like a young Sauternes or similar style sweet wine from Bordeaux or the Bordeaux region. (Monbazillac is good value.)

Emily cooks at the St Tudy Inn, near Bodmin. Tel: 01208 850656

Recipe photograph © David Griffen

If you’d like be able to check out all the food and wine pairings on the site you can buy a bundle of credits here to access my premium content.

And/or for regular updates on what and where I’ve been eating, drinking and travelling sign up for my weekly newsletter Eat This, Drink That, Live Well.

You may also enjoy …