Apricot Sugar Plum Tart

This tart is from Independence Day two weeks ago, and fittingly I write to you now from the farmlands of Maine, where I am currently apprenticing at a goat cheese creamery. This land was previously a big ol' apple orchard and was once a Christmas tree farm, and now it's 100 acres of deciduous trees, bugs, coyotes, and (rumored) moose that's home to about 60 momma goats, kids, and bucks and a handful of farmers, volunteers, and one apprentice. To the northwest is Mt. Katahdin, and right through those trees I can spot the sea on a clear day. Just six days ago I was arriving home from Las Vegas where I spent a week at a freelancing gig, and now I'm waiting for the ph to drop on these curds in the cheese plant so that I can get to hanging them. Needless to say, it's been a hell of a change from Washington, DC, and a largely happy one so far.

The entirety of yesterday found me in the cheese plant helping make mozzarella and boursin and packing up the chevre for market, but today was a really delightful shift in pace. Just this morning, Dave and I went south to Winter Harbor, Maine for one of two Tuesday farmers markets. We packed up at 5:00 a.m., made a coffee pit-stop at Dunkin' Donuts, then jammed on the gas for two hours until we arrived at our market space in the parking lot of a coastal cafe. I will never ever get tired of the ocean, especially the ocean in Maine, which is lined by rocky embankments and dotted with piney islands--it was totally reviving to pass a rainy morning there. We spent the day hocking our cheeses and chatting up some of the town vacationers, but the fellow farmers were my favorite as they threatened to blow up DC and all its politicians when I told them from where I'd come. Then they invited me out to their "patch" to have lunch and pick garlic someday soon. The greatest folks.

But two weeks ago, before all of this, I said some final goodbyes in DC at an all-too-brief Fourth of July BBQ and hotdog cook-off at our (now "their") house. It was truly hot as blazes that afternoon--sweat poured down my nose and nearly onto this tart--but with a lot of beer along with hot dogs, patience, and a freezer, the tart kept its shape and didn't turn into a sweltering summer catastrophe. Apricots and stone fruit more generally are one of the greatest parts of summer, and every year I look for new ways to bake them. This tart is a casual spin upon a previous summer favorite, but as soon as apricots show up here in Maine, I'll be trying this beautiful pie from Lottie + Doof. And have you seen Nikole Herriot's pie project? The blueberry lemon verbena pie she featured was another total winner. Check it out while you count curds and soak up your summer!

Apricot Sugar Plum Tart

One-half recipe of your favorite pie crust recipe (try this!)

1 pound ripe apricots
10 small sugar plums
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
¼ cup + 2 tablespoons apricot jam
1 egg
2 tablespoons raw sugar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon

1.  Make your crust! Put it in the fridge to chill for at least an hour, preferably longer if your kitchen is pretty warm this time of year. Cut the apricots and plums in half, discard the pits, and toss the halves into a large bowl. Add the sugar and toss to coat. Gently stir ¼ cup of apricot jam into apricots; each piece of fruit should be lightly coated with jam.

2.  Roll your dough on a lightly floured surface into a 15-inch circle. Transfer the circle to the back of a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Slip into the fridge if you haven’t finished prepping your ingredients, but if you have, proceed!

3.  To assemble tart, smear two tablespoons of jam across the crust. Pile on the apricots and sugar plums face-up, tucking plums into the nooks. Working from the edges, fold the crust into the center, pleating as needed; there should be about three inches of crust showing. Freeze shaped tart for at least an hour; this helps it keep its shape while baking.

4.  Meanwhile preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Whisk your egg with a splash of water until no streaks remain, and brush the top of your crust with it.  Mix the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl, and toss it generously and evenly over the tart crust and center. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, rotating pan halfway through, until crust is deep golden brown and filling is bubbling. Can serve hot out of the oven or cooled to room temperature!

Apricot Blackberry Tart with Rye Crust

Warning y'all, I'm in a Law & Order SVU k-hole. It comes after an abnormally demanding couple of days at my job and just before the onslaught of six straight 17-hour work days i.e., my organization's annual conference. I'm spending my last few hours of respite thinking about pie and cocktails and watching a ten-year-old sociopath terrorize a father played by Agent Cooper. Joey and I (but mostly I) had a bad habit of watching probably six episodes of SVU at a time until Joey moved to Argyle and left me here to watch SVU on my ownsome while feeding a fear of our basement (total serial killer hideout!).  

Well and so this tart. Joey successfully unleashed me from SVU's stranglehold last weekend when he came down to DC for a quick, two-night visit. We traipsed from one quadrant of DC to another, exclusively for gluttonous, double dinners and cocktails, and especially for ramen (at Toki Underground -- you have to go!) and for friends (they are the best!). And suddenly it was 2 a.m. on Saturday night when I realized that I hadn't baked the second of two of these tarts yet and that Joey was leaving at the crack of Sunday dawn. So we slept some, baked the tart, ate it, and kissed faretheewell until next time. But before Joey got on his train, he did declare this tart to be "it," and I think it almost worked magic in getting him to come back forever.

And anyway, this recipe makes two jammy, flaky, sweet, and tart tarts in what Kimberly Boyce calls a crust made “sweet and milky” by the use of rye flour. She recommends the tart dough for any fruit, particularly apricots and boysenberries together, and while my farmers market is woefully short on boysenberries, we have an abundance of blackberries and soon enough plums. Pears too. And I am officially hooked on Boyce’s palate. I mean, after her rhubarb tarts, whole-wheat chocolate chip cookies, iced oatmeal cookies, honey amaranth cookies, multigrain pear pancakes, quinoa cookies, and ginger peach muffins, I sorta already was. Definitely pick up a copy of her cookbook. It will blow your mind.

Apricot Blackberry Tart with Rye Crust                 

Adapted from Kim Boyce’s recipe for Apricot Boysenberry Tart

Makes two tarts

Boyce's recipe calls for homemade jam so I cut back the amount used since I was suspicious of how sweet commercial jam would be. I've noted below where my take strays from hers.

For rye dough
1 cup rye flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 ½ sticks cold unsalted butter
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Ice water

1.  Sift the flours, sugar, and salt into a large bowl, dumping any grains that remain in the sifter back into the bowl. Cut the butter into half-inch pieces and add to the mixture. Rub the butter between your fingers to break it into smaller bits, until the butter ranges in size from hazelnuts to peas; work quickly!

2.  Add the vinegar and eight tablespoons of ice water to the mixture, using a rubber spatula or your hands to cut the liquid through the dry ingredients. The dough should come together as one shaggy lump. Squeeze it together to see if a ball forms, and if it’s too dry, add more water one tablespoon at a time until dough comes together. Pile the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap, sprinkle with a few dots of water, wrap, and refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight.

3.   (This next bit is a tad technical, but folding and rolling the dough like this creates seriously flaky layers of pastry.) Unwrap the dough on a floured surface and pat it into square. Roll it out to a rectangle that’s roughly 8 ½ by 11 inches. The dough will be crumbly, but fear not! It will come together. For the first turn, fold the dough in thirds like a letter; the seam should be on the left. Rotate the dough so that the seam is at the top and parallel to your body, and roll out into an 8 ½ by 11 rectangle again. Fold and roll again, and repeat the process for a third, final time. Wrap the dough in plastic and chill for another hour.

For filling and finishing

1 ¼ cup apricot jam (suspecting sweetness, I cut this back to 1 cup total)

2 pounds ripe apricots

2 to 4 tablespoons sugar, depending on sweetness of fruit

1 ½ cups boysenberries (I used blackberries)

1 egg

¼ cup raw sugar

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1.  Cut the apricots in half, discard the pits, and toss the halves into a large bowl. Add the sugar and toss to coat. Gently stir 1/2 cup of jam into apricots; each piece of fruit should be lightly coated with jam.  In a separate bowl, toss the berries with another ¼ cup of jam, careful to keep the berries whole.

2.  To shape dough, divide it in half and keep the second half in the fridge while you work. Roll your dough on a lightly floured surface into a 15-inch circle. Transfer the circle to the back of a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

3.  To assemble tart, smear ¼ cup of jam (I halved this and used two tablespoons) across the crust. Pile on half the apricots and half the blackberries, tucking berries into the nooks. Working from the edges, fold the crust into the center, pleating as needed; there should be about three inches of crust showing.  Using the same procedure, make the second tart.  Freeze both tarts for at least an hour.

4.  Meanwhile preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Whisk your egg with a splash of water until no streaks remain, and brush the tops of crusts with it.  Mix the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl, and toss it generously and evenly over both tarts. Bake tarts for 60 to 70 minutes, rotating pan halfway through, until crust is deep golden brown and filling is bubbling. If you only want to make one, keep the second unbaked tart wrapped in the freezer for up to one month.