Nectarine Tart with Brown Sugar Whole Wheat Crust

I love nectarines, they are perhaps my favorite summer fruit. I rarely see recipes using them and maybe that's because they are so perfect just washed and eaten raw. I love them that way. I bought a nice big bag in Anchorage the other day, with the idea that the time had come to elevate the perfect summer fruit into the perfect summer dessert. The perfect summer dessert being of course seasonal but also cool and refreshing or covered in fresh cream. Of course, that's how I feel about them, how about you?

I challenged myself to make a curd, which I had never made before without lumps of egg in it. Blech. It turned out perfectly delicious and scrambled egg free. I loosely followed this recipe for a Nectarine and Lime tart but I changed it up a bit. Try mine or the original for a delicious impressive summer dessert. I made mine in a spring form pan and it worked perfectly, I don't have a tart pan, I think I need to remedy that.

Nectarine Tart with Brown Sugar Whole Wheat Crust
 
*total of four nectarines are needed*
*optional 1/3 cup of peach jam topping-I didn't use this, you could*

Nectarine Curd
2 whole nectarines, cut in half and pitted
5 large egg yolks
 1/3 cup of sugar
1 TBSP lemon juice
2 TBSP unsalted butter
1/2 vanilla bean

whirl the nectarine pieces in blender or food processor
in a sauce over medium heat combine all the ingredients except vanilla bean
scrape vanilla bean seeds into the pot then add the pod too
whisk just until the mixture almost boils, don't stop whisking you'll get egg lumps
when it is about to boil remove it from the heat and carefully pull out the bean pod
and then pour the curd through a strainer to remove lumps
scrape the curd into a bowl and cover with buttered waxed paper
refrigerate until ready to serve

Brown Sugar Whole Wheat Crust--oven 350˚

3/4 cup of butter
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
2/3 cup of brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
cut the butter into chunks and set aside
mix the dry ingredients together
cut the butter into the dry ingredients using a pastry blender or a food processor
when the butter is incorporated and the dough holds together it's done
simply press into the bottom and slightly up the sides of a spring form pan
bake for 22-25 minutes in a 350˚ oven
remove when done and let cool

Assembly
spread the curd over the crust
slice the nectarines and arrange over the curd
if using the peach jam heat it up then force it through a strainer and pour over the sliced fruit
serve immediately

I'll tell you why I didn't use peach jam, I was serving this tart fresh made to friends. I didn't need to mess with pouring the jam over the top which might have hindered discoloration although I didn't notice any even after a couple hours. And I didn't want to cover up the wonderful light medley of crust, curd and fruit, it was sublime perfection in a summer dessert.

Peace and Love--