Yesterday's Tuesdays With Dorie recipe was a beautiful
Baked Yogurt Tart. I'm a day late in
posting, but did enjoy this dessert yesterday!
The Baked Yogurt Tart is a perfect summertime dessert, when fresh fruits are in season. I chose fresh peaches which were absolutely perfect! Other possibilities include fresh berries, plums, or even apples and pears.
The tart begins with a crust, a Flaky Pie Dough recipe, also from the Baking With Julia cookbook. After baking and cooling to room temperature, the crust is filled with a yogurt, egg, sugar, vanilla, and flour mixture. After reading some other bakers' comments about the filling lacking flavor, I added some almond extract as well.
The yogurt filling is topped with sliced fresh fruit, then some toasted nuts. The recipe calls for sprinkling the nuts in a border around the edge of the tart, but I chose to sprinkle them all over the top instead. I accidentally overfilled my crust with the yogurt, as the weight of the sliced peaches nearly caused the filling to spill over. It didn't, thankfully!
The tart is baked for 35 to 40 minutes, then cooled to room temperature. Before removing the tart from the oven, I jiggled the pan, and the filling seemed set, so I removed it. However, after it had cooled, when I sliced it, the middle of the tart was still quite soft whereas the edges were all the way set. It could have used a few more minutes of baking time, I think.
The tarts is dusted with a little confectioner's sugar upon serving, and is absolutely beautiful.....and scrumptious!! We all enjoyed the peaches paired with almonds, and the almond extract added such a nice flavor to the yogurt.
I poured the extra filling into a pretty oven-safe bowl, topped it with peaches and nuts, and baked it. SOoooo good, almost like cheesecake!
We look forward to trying this with different fruits next time!
Baking Yogurt Tart
~Leslie Mackie~
1/4 recipe Flaky Pie Dough, well chilled (recipe to follow)
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups plain nonfat yogurt
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups fresh blackberries, blueberries, and/or raspberries (you can also use sliced plums, peaches, or nectarines)
1/3 cup coarsely chopped toasted almonds
confectioner's sugar, for dusting
Working in a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 12 inch circle that's between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick. Fit the dough into a 9 inch round cake pan or a 9 inch springform. (The sides of the pan should be about 1 1/2 inches high.) Press the dough against the bottom and up the sides of the pan and cut the overhand to an even 1/2 inch all around. Fold the overhand under itself and press and pinch the edge to crimp in a zigzag pattern.
Chill the pan for about 30 minutes.
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the over to 400 degrees F.
Fit a piece of parchment paper or aluminum foil into the an and fill with rice, dried beans, or pie weights. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the crust is set and lightly browned. Remove the paper and weights and cool the shell to room temperature on a rack. Turn the oven down to 325 degrees F.
Beat the eggs and sugar together with a hand-held mixer (or a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment) on medium speed until they thicken slightly and turn pale, 2-3 minutes; they don't need to form a ribbon. Switch to a rubber spatula, add the yogurt and vanilla extract, and mix just until blended. Gradually add the flour through a sifter, folding it in gently with the spatula.
Pour the yogurt filling into the cooled tart shell, smoothing the top with the spatula. The filling will come only about two thirds of the way up the pan--that's fine. Scatter the fruit over the top of he tart; it will probably push the filling up to the top of the crust. Sprinkle the chopped nuts around the edge of the tart.
Place the tart on a jelly roll pan to catch any drips and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool to room temperature.
To unmold the tart, if you used a cake pan, cover the top of the tart with plastic wrap and a cardboard cake circle or the removable metal bottom of a tart pan. Inver the tart, remove the pan, and invert again onto a cardboard cake circle or a serving platter so that the tart is right side up; remove the plastic wrap. Or remove the sides of the springform pan (you can leave the base in place). The tart can be served at room temperature or it can be chilled if desired. Dust with confectioner's sugar at serving time.
Serve the tart the day it is made if possible, although it can be kept, covered, in the refrigerator for a day if necessary.
Flaky Pie Dough
~Leslie Mackie~
5 1/4 cups pastry flour or all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 1/2 sticks (6 oz) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 3/4 cups (11 oz) solid vegetable shortening, chilled
1 cup ice water
To make the dough in a food processor, start with very cold ingredients and take care not to overwork them. Place the dry ingredients in the food processor fitted with a metal blade and pulse just to mix. Take the top off, scatted the chilled butter and shortening over the flour, cover, and pulse again, working only until the fats are cut in and the mixture resembles slightly moist cornmeal. Add a little liquid and pulse a few times, then add more and pulse again. Continue until the mixture has curds and clumps and sticks together when pressed between your fingers. Don't process until the dough forms a ball that rides on the blade. That's overdoing it!
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or for as long as 5 days.
