When I first moved to Colorado, I whined a lot about missing Northern California produce. ”No, No!”, people assured me, “Wait ’till Summer, the peaches in Colorado are divine!”. Rolling my eyes (on the inside), I felt sorry for these poor folks in the middle of the country who, obviously, had no idea what perfect produce was really like.
Then — I tried a Colorado peach! Divine indeed, practically holy! Now I can only whine about missing the Heirloom tomatoes — and the figs and strawberries — and the cherries — and the hundreds of varieties of organic leafy vegetables — and the wine — and the fresh fish — and the morels — and the entire San Francisco Ferry Building Farmer’s Market. Maybe I’m just not easy to please…
Because the peaches in the market were so perfectly ripe, and since I’m going to a dinner party tonight and wanted something peachy and gluten-free to bring for the hostess, I thought I’d bring a tart. I saw a similar dessert on the gorgeous Smitten Kitchen blog last year and tried to replicate it in a fifteen minute version. It literally didn’t take longer than that! I kinda love how imperfect it looks – so homemade! (That’s always what I say when things turn out looking less-than-perfect! You should see my Rustic Apple Tart – “Rustic” is code for “Woops”.)
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Crust
About 45 gluten-free gingersnap cookies
7 T butter, melted
(Pulse cookies until finely ground in food processor; add melted butter and pulse a few times to combine. Dump into tart pan with removable bottom and press firmly. Pop into a 350 degree oven for about 6-8 minutes. Cool completely.
Mascarpone Layer
8 oz mascarpone
6 oz cream cheese
1/4 c., plus 2 T, sugar
zest of 2 lemons
Combine all ingredients until well mixed.
Topping
5-6 peaches, ripe but firm enough to slice nicely
Fan the peaches around the mascarpone mixture. You can brush a glaze of warm apricot jam on top, but it's not necessary.
Chill for a couple hours or overnight.
