Summer Fruit Tart

Last weekend we made a dinner for Amanda, one of Steve's students, to celebrate her graduation with her Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies.  We had the pleasure of meeting her parents, Lee and Joan, and a family friend, Neta, and celebrated along with several of Amanda's friends.  We had an herb-crusted beef tenderloin with chimichurri sauce, citrus-roasted asparagus, and Parker House rolls.  The summer fruit tart was the star of the show, it's just so pretty.

I think I first made this dessert in about 1975.  It was in my old Betty Crocker cookbook, and while it is quite easy to make, it looks so good that your guests will be impressed.  You can make it the morning you are entertaining, then it chills in the refrigerator until you're ready to serve it, which seems to me to be the perfect arrangement.  The only thing you have to think about is that if you are using peaches or another stone fruit, you want to buy them a few days early to ripen.  I like to buy the berries the day I'm using them to ensure that they're fresh.  You can use whatever fruit you like, bananas, grapes, kiwis, just think about how the colors will look together.

SUMMER FRUIT TART

PASTRY

2 1/2 cups All-Purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
14 1/2 Tablespoons (7.25 ounces) unsalted butter, cold, cut into 14 pieces
1/2 cup (8 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
3 Tablespoons ice water
3 Tablespoons ice cold Vodka

CLEAR ORANGE SAUCE

1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon each lemon oil and orange oil (or lemon zest and orange zest)

FRUIT

2 pints strawberries
1 pint raspberries
1/2 pint blueberries
2 peaches

Place the flour and salt in a food processor and process to blend for 20 seconds. (Or whisk them together by hand in a large mixing bowl.)

Distribute the butter evenly over the flour and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, 15 to 20 seconds.  (Or rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips or cut it in with a pastry blender.)  Add the cheddar cheese and mix slightly.

Pour the ice water and vodka over the mixture, and pulse just until a dough begins to form.  (Or sprinkle the water and vodka over the mixture while tossing with a fork.)

Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap and knead it for several turns.  Shape the dough into a thick disk and wrap in the plastic.  Refrigerate at least 1 hour.

While the pastry is chilling, it is time to make the Orange Sauce.

Stir together the sugar, salt and cornstarch in a small saucepan.  Gradually stir in the orange juice, lemon juice, and water.  Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture thickens and boils.  Boil an stir 1 minute.  Remove from heat.  Stir in orange and lemon oils (or zests) and let cool completely.

Place the chilled disk on a floured surface.

Spray a 14-inch pizza pan with nonstick cooking spray (just to be sure it wants to come out of the pan).

Roll out the dough into a circle that is about 1 inch larger than the pan.  (It can also be baked on a baking sheet, but you will have to roll it into a 15-inch circle and then flute the sides.  It's more of a challenge than you might think to make a nice looking circle.)

Fold the dough over the rolling pin and then unfold it over the pan, easing it into place.

Cut off any dough in excess of 1-inch over the edge.

Fold the edges in and flute the edge.

Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.  Prick the bottom and side of the pastry with a fork and bake it for 12 to 14 minutes, until it is definitely browning.

Let cool while you prepare the fruit.  First, you want to wash the fruit and be sure it is dry (so it doesn't make the crust soggy).

Here's a tip for peeling peaches.  Put enough water in a saucepan to cover the peaches and heat it to boiling.  Prepare an ice water bath and put that next to the saucepan on the counter.  (An ice water bath is just enough water to cover the peaches in a bowl with a few ice cubes floating in it).  Once the water reaches boiling, lower the peaches into the water and let them boil for about 40 seconds.  If they're not quite ripe, let them go for 60 seconds.  Immediately put them int he ice water bath and let them cool.
Now the peel will literally slip off.

I like to slice the strawberries so that they will lie fairly flat around the edge of the pastry crust.  Sometimes I mound some more in the center, but when I have good raspberries, they go there.  Also slice the peaches so that they will lie flat on top of each other as shown.  Then start to place the fruit, starting from the outer edge working in, like this:

Spoon some of the orange sauce over the fruit.  The lemon juice in the sauce will keep the fruit from turning an unattractive color, so be sure to cover all of the fruit.

Now the pie can wait in the refrigerator until you're ready to serve it.

In the original recipe they recommend serving it with whipped cream and more of the remaining sauce, but I think that when your fruit is good and in season, it's best to let it stand on it's own.

10 to 12 servings.