Easiest Peach Tart Recipe with Puff Pastry

"Cooking is one failure after another, and that's how you finally learn."

Julia Child

But with this peach tart recipe, there's no room for failure. The peaches roast quickly in the oven, sitting in a creamy almond base which soaks up the fruit's juices. It's a sweet twist on our popular asparagus puff pastry tart and French tomato tart.

Peach Tart - Few Ingredients

This peach tart is a showstopper with just six ingredients. You'll need ready-made puff pastry, almond paste (made with egg, rum, and honey), and fresh peaches. Here's what you'll need:

• Peaches - Ensure they're not bruised, firm but not brick hard. Use peaches or nectarines, white or yellow - or a mixture of them (like I make here). Keep their skins on.
• Puff Pastry - we're using ready-made and ready-rolled. If you can only find frozen, then defrost and roll out if it's a block. Choose 'all-butter' (pur beurre in France), as it's best.
• Almond Flour - ground almonds. Ground pistachios also work a treat!
• Egg - just one is needed, medium or large and organic/free-range.
• Honey - use a good quality runny honey.
• Rum - dark rum is best, but no need for an expensive bottle either.

How to Make a Peach Tart

This quick and easy recipe is adapted from my French Fig Tart from my second cookbook, Teatime in Paris (2015).

First wash, dry and cut the peaches into thin slices. In a bowl, stir together the almond flour, egg, rum and 2 tablespoons of the honey until mixed to a paste.

How Do I Prepare Puff Pastry for a Peach Tart?

Roll out the ready-made puff pastry. If defrosted from a block, roll it out to approx. 5mm/¼ inch.

Place on a baking sheet lined with greaseproof baking paper (our puff pastry comes with the paper!). Prick the pastry with a fork (to stop it from rising) and score a border 1cm (⅜ inch) in from the edge using the blunt side of a knife (don't cut all the way through).

Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/Gas 6. Spread the almond paste evenly over the pastry and place the peach/nectarine slices on top.

Drizzle over the remaining tablespoon of honey and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Lavender with Peach - A Perfect Summer Combination

If you have lavender, the summery combination with peach and nectarine is divine. Sprinkle a few tiny flowers from one stem over the fruit-a little goes a long way!

If you love these flavours, try it in these Italian-style baked peaches with Amaretti. Likewise, to emphasis the almond flavour, sprinkle with slivered almonds before baking.

How to Serve

Serve either chilled or at room temperature on its own or with a little more honey drizzled over the top for extra shine.

Fancy a dollop of ice cream? Peach tart is fabulous served with either pistachio ice cream or lemon verbena ice cream.

This tart also works well with figs, apricots and plums.

For more inspiration, facts and recipes,
see the guide to peaches and nectarines.