Nectarine Tart
This artfully composed tart looks like an elegant tapestry, with carefully placed fruit “roses” in a prebaked tart shell. While it is easy to make, it’s essential to use a very sharp knife in order to cut the nectarine slices precisely. You can make the tart shell one day ahead; keep at room temperature, loosely covered.
Recipe information
Yield
makes one 9-inch tart
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to a 12-inch round, about 1/4 inch thick. With a dry pastry brush, sweep off excess flour; fit dough into a 9-inch round fluted tart pan with a removable bottom, pressing into edges. Using a sharp paring knife, trim dough flush with the pan. Chill tart shell until firm, about 30 minutes.
Step 2
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Prick bottom of dough all over with a fork. Line with parchment paper, leaving at least a 1-inch overhang. Fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until the edges are just beginning to turn golden,20 to 25 minutes.Remove parchment paper and weights; continue baking until lightly golden all over, 20 to 25 minutes more. Cool tart shell completely on a wire rack.
Step 3
In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat; cook, whisking occasionally, until butter solids begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and set aside.
Step 4
In a medium bowl, whisk together egg, sugar, lemon juice, Chambord, and salt until light in color and doubled in volume, about 2 minutes. Add flour and reserved brown butter, and whisk until well combined. Set filling aside.
Step 5
Using a sharp knife, cut as far as you can into one nectarine on either side, then trim the opposite ends. You will have four nectarine pieces. Place these pieces cut side down on the cutting board, and slice each into 1/8-inch-thick pieces; set the ends aside. Repeat with remaining nectarines. Starting with the thinnest slices, curl the nectarine around itself with the skin side up. Wrap another slice of nectarine around the first, making sure to keep the end of one slice at about the center point of the previous slice. Continue this circular pattern until the“rose” is about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Using an offset spatula, carefully transfer to cooled tart shell. Make and transfer enough additional roses to tightly fill the shell. Using the remaining nectarine slices, fill in any gaps between roses.
Step 6
Whisk the reserved filling briefly, then pour it evenly over the fruit. Use a spoon to fill any empty spaces. Bake, rotating tart halfway through, until crust is golden brown and filling has slightly puffed, about 40 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.
Nectarine Tart how-to
Step 7
Fresh nectarine pieces are very thinly sliced with a sharp knife.
Step 8
The thinnest slices are used to form the base of each rose; other slices are wrapped around the base to resemble petals.
Step 9
The roses are carefully transferred and packed tightly into the prebaked tart shell; any empty spaces are filled with extra slices (see here).
