Christiana Aretta writes a journal about food, photography, & toys.

NOTE: the photo is of pre-baking lusciousness.

The combination of tiny baking dishes with a luscious AND easy crust recipe seem to have triggered some kind of fruit tart obsession recently. Although, honestly, I’m about ripe for a new obsession (no pun intended… *snrk) since last year’s exhaustive study of cupcakes.

August is also the perfect month for fruit tarts here in DC – I can’t go to a farmer’s market without being beckoned by pints of sexy, little blueberries, blackberries, raspberries or baskets of swelling, globular peaches and plums, their seductive seams coyly upturned in a come-hither stance.

Of course, I rarely make anything without wondering how it will photograph. Peaches and blueberries seemed like an obvious combination (complimentary colors – orange and blue – instant awesomeness!). Plus they taste good.

Crust

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick of unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons ice water

Filling

• 3 good-sized peaches
• 1/2 pint of blueberries
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 375°. Mix the dry ingredients for the crust and put in a food processor. Add butter cubes and pulse until the mixture loses its fine consistency and looks like coarse corn meal. Add water and pulse until the mixture makes moist clumps.
2. Remove the dough from the food processor, roll into a ball and flatten into a disk. Place the disk between two pieces of parchment or wax paper and roll out to a 1/4″ thickness (placing the roll pin above the top piece of paper). Cut a circle about an inch wider in diameter than your pie pan. Gently peel the dough from the paper and place it in the pie pan(s). Let the dough drape over the edge of the pie pan, if you can. If you’re using two small dishes, repeat the process.
3. Slice the peaches, leaving the skins on, and put them in a bowl. Add the blueberries, vanilla and cinnamon. Mix until the slices are well-covered. Pour into the pie pan.
4. Put the pie pan(s) on a cookie sheet and place in the center rack of the oven. Cover loosely with tin foil and bake for 20 minutes. Then, remove the tinfoil and bake for another 25 minutes. Crust should be golden brown and fruit bubbly.
5. Remove from the oven, let cool, and enjoy!

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