Peaches?  In March?  Well if you use dried peaches..yes.  If you poach them in Sauvignon Blanc first..yes please!  Place them on a honey sweetened almond batter in a whole wheat crust?  Hey…you had me at peaches!

Poaching the peaches the day before you make the dish, will allow them to absorb the most flavor.  You can poach them as much as a week ahead and keep them refrigerated in the poaching sauce.  Let them drain for about 30 minutes before you place them in the tart.

The crust uses some shredded wheat crumbs.  This gives you a bit more crunch, which I like.  If you use a flavored shredded wheat (cinnamon, vanilla, chocolate) then you also get a taste of that flavor as well.  It also makes the crust a bit healthier…although it still has a lot of butter…but hey, this is dessert!  I put it together in my food processor to speed it along.  But if you are in a big hurry (or aren’t a crust maker), you can always use a refrigerated crust and I promise I won’t think badly about you.  I have been known to use them on many occasions.

The filling is ground almonds, sweetened with honey and raw sugar in a rich batter.  This is also done in my processor and comes together in less than 5 minutes.

This is a lovely dessert to see and a delight to eat.  Not overly sweet so all the flavors come through to enjoy.

You’ll need:

For the peaches

10-12 dried peach halves

2 cups of Sauvignon Blanc

1/2 cup raw sugar

zest and juice of 2 clementines

1-2 cinnamon sticks

For the crust

1 cup of shredded wheat crumbs (mine were Kashi Cinnamon Harvest)

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup AP unbromated, unbleached flour

10 Tbs unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

pinch of sea salt

1 medium egg

For the filling

3/4 cup of sliced almonds (you can use whole, but they take longer to grind)

1/4 cup local honey

1/4 cup raw sugar

2 Tbs flour

7 Tbs unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 egg

1 egg yolk

2 tsp of vanilla or almond extract

Start with preparing the peaches.  Do this as much as a week prior, but the night before works best.

In a 2 quart sauce pan, combine wine, sugar, clementine zest, juice and cinnamon sticks over medium-low heat.  Stir to dissolve sugar and barely bring to a boil.  Add peaches, cover, and reduce heat.  Simmer on low heat for 20-30 minutes until peaches are nicely plumped.  Allow to cool to room temp.  Refrigerate if not using immediately.  When ready to use, strain the peaches, but save the syrup (its very tasty) for flavoring ice cream, soda water, any dessert you want to add more flavor to…even pancakes!

To make the crust, add shredded wheat, both flours, salt and butter to your food processor.  Pulse until the flours has the consistency of cornmeal.  Add the egg and pulse again until mixture has a rough texture.  Empty onto a floured counter and press into a solid mass.  Using a floured rolling pin, roll dough out into a 1/4 inch thick crust.  Transfer into a greased 10 inch spring-form pan. Form crust up the sides and patch any tears or holes.  Sides should come up about 1 1/2 inches.  Cover and refrigerate for about an hour.

Preheat oven to 400 F

Wipe out the processor to use for the filling.  Add the almonds and process until they are the consistency of coarse sand.  Add the sugar.  With the processor running, add the honey.  Open and sprinkle in the flour and butter pieces.  Add the egg, egg yolk and extract.  Process until mixture is smooth.

Pour batter into crust.  Spread to the edges by tilting the pan back and forth.  Gently place strained peaches into the batter in a circular pattern, do not overlap.

Bake for 35-45 minutes until filling is browned and puffy.  Allow to cool completely so filling can set.  Serve at room temperature.  Enjoy!  Lovely with coffee in the morning…