Fig & Almond Tart

Practice makes perfect and I'm not perfect yet with my Pate Sucr`ee.  Today, I took advantage of fig season for another round of pastry homework and made a beautiful tart.  Pastry dough takes practice and I'm excited to try all sorts of wonderful fruits of the summer with this marvelous crust. I've already made a peach raspberry pie and today the fig tart.  I'm in love with the fig and almond combination.  This tart has the "Wow" factor as a dessert. So roll up your sleeves and roll out some more pastry.  The rest is easy. It doesn't hurt for the figs to be firm.

For the Pastry:

1- 5 inch disc of chilled pate sucr`ee (see blog post 9/5/2014)

Roll out to 1/8 inch, roll up on a rolling pin and apply to a 10 inch  remove able bottom tart pan and prick the bottom with a fork(docking). Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Line the tart shell with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans, par bake the shell for 20-25 minutes at 400 degrees.  Remove  discard the weights and cool while preparing the filling.

Note: I chilled my marble slab (if you have one) by sitting a rimmed baking sheet loaded with ice on it for an hour before rolling out the pastry.

For the filling:

8 oz Marscapone cheese
3 oz almond paste, crumbled into bits
1/4 cup honey
1 tbls sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Combine in a food processor or a bowl and mix on high speed until combined and smooth. Spread in the bottom of the tart shell evenly with an offset spatula.

1 pint Brown Turkey Figs stemmed and sliced
Arrange slices as shown or in a pattern that pleases you.

Brush the figs with a mixture of 1/4 cup apricot jam and 1tbls Moscato or brandy warmed in the microwave.

Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes or until edges or brown.  Cool completely before removing from tart tin.  Serve with ice cream or sweetened whipped cream.

Yum Yum!!