Amaretto Peach Tart

This Peach Tart looks and tastes fabulous… and was so easy… I just couldn’t believe it. The Amaretto flavor is very light… adds a terrific additional flavor to the peaches and cheesecake filling… the filling is a light cheesecake… not at all heavy… perfect for spring!

I’m so excited that spring is here… I live in the south but we’ve had very cold weather recently… well… cold for us… and I’m ready to see flowers and blooming trees… bright sunny days…

And with spring… I think of light lunches .. salads… fruit desserts… tropical cocktails with little umbrellas in them… oh yes… I’m more than ready.

I saw this tart recipe while surfing the net… I found it at Pillsbury… and just had to try it… it was wonderful. I do, however, have a few tips that unfortunately they didn’t have in their recipe and I don’t want you to make the same mistakes… while they didn’t spoil the dessert… I was annoyed that it wasn’t perfect… or as perfect as I wanted it to be….

I did follow my instincts and made a few changes while making this which turned out to be right on the money… so here are my tips…

TIPS

This recipe calls for one Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust… you can use your own homemade one if you prefer…. I used theirs… their instructions say to use a 10 inch tart pan… I used a 9 inch tart pan… no way their crust would be adequate for a 10 inch.. I trimmed very little …certainly not an inch and it perfectly held the filling and peaches… so I changed the directions to read a 9 inch tart pan… if you want a 10 inch size… I suggest you make your own crust.

I followed the rest of the instructions to the tee…. I pricked the bottom of the tart dough generously as directed. I thought I should use pie weights or beans to weight it down during baking.. but decided not to figuring I used their crust and their recipe… they ought to know if I need them… WRONG! …. The crust bubbled up quite a bit in one spot… so I was annoyed at them for not saying to use pie weights and annoyed at myself… because I know better.

To top it off even more… I gently pressed the “hump” when it was cooled to see if it was solid and my finger poked a hole… I know.. I should have known better… well we all do stupid things sometimes… I didn’t have another refrigerated pie crust and it was too late to make one from scratch… so I made the filling and poured it in knowing it was going to go somewhat between the crust layers… I just hoped for the best.

Luckily it only stuck a teeny bit on one small spot… so I ate that piece… also the top hole (the one courtesy of my finger) did show slightly through the filling, but the peaches covered it nicely… actually it turned out to be a good mistake… had I left the “hump” that section of the pie would have had very little filling since it would have run to the flatter side… so I’m not quite sure if it was all that much of a mistake…poking the hole… not the pie weights… not using the pie weights was clearly stupid.

If you are unsure of what pie weights are or how to use them… go to a Tip of the Day I wrote some time ago… Preventing Your Pie Crust From Shrinking….and it will explain how to use pie weights… they prevent the crust from shrinking… thankfully that wasn’t an issue this time too.

The Amaretto flavor is extremely light… I will add an additional tablespoon to the topping the next time… the original recipe used only one tablespoon… I’m writing the recipe to use two… you can’t taste it at all on the peaches with only one tablespoon.

They didn’t include a non-alcoholic version… I always try too… not everyone wants alcohol in their food… you can use almond extract instead… I would use ½ teaspoon in the filling and ½ teaspoon in the topping.

Just a point to note… that the alcohol does cook off and extracts are made with alcohol… but I wanted to give you the substitution in case you didn’t want to use Amaretto.

If you don’t use Amaretto much… and want to buy it… you can buy a small “airplane” size liquor bottle… it’s expensive if you consider the size compared to the actual regular bottle size… but there’s no sense in spending the money on a large bottle if you won’t use it or if you’re not sure you will like it.

I drained the peaches for a couple of hours… I just dumped them in a strainer set over a bowl… they were still pretty “wet” but I’m glad I drained them well…otherwise the topping can be soupy and the peaches will slide.

This is truly easy and absolutely delicious … I hope you try it!







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Recipe: Amaretto Peach Tart

All you need:

Crust:

1 Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust, softened as directed on the pkg. or 1 homemade crust

Filling:

1 pkg. Philadelphia Brand Cream Cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons Amaretto
2 eggs

Topping:

2 tablespoons peach preserves
2 tablespoons Amaretto
1 (16 oz.) pkg. frozen peaches without the syrup, thawed and well drained

All you need to do:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.




Lay the softened pie crust over a 9-inch tart pan.







Gently push the crust into the sides and bottom.

Trim the excess pie dough.






Generously prick the bottom of the pie crust with a fork.





Lay two sheets of foil over the crust… gently push it into place.

Fill with pie weights or dried beans.

Bake for 9-11 minutes.

Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees F.

Cool until able to handle the foil… remove the foil and pie weights.

Cool completely… I cooled mine for about an hour… check after 30 minutes to see if completely cooled.

In the meantime, in a mixing bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the Amaretto and eggs and beat until well blended.

Pour mixture into the prepared crust.

Bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until filling is set.

Cool for about 10 minutes.

Refrigerate for at least an hour.

To prepare the topping, in a large bowl, mix the peaches, Amaretto and peach preserves. Mix well.

Arrange the peaches over the tart.

Store in the refrigerator.