Nectarine Tart in a Gingersnap Crust
I'm a bachelorette again. Brian has been out of town and I'm living it up - girly style. You know, drinking champagne at lunch, going to the nursery and the yarn shop, watching a bunch of foreign flicks. Girly foreign flicks are hard to come by, but if you have a chance to catch Caramel on cable, it's a goodie. OK, I can't lie. I also watched Dirty Dancing, which just might be the best movie ever made. What-ever 'Citizen Kane'. Au-revoir 'The 400 Blows'. Dirty Dancing has had me mambo-ing with my broom handle all week long.
Additionally, in the spirit of ladylike indulgence, I decided to make a pretty, summery tart.
Of all the stone fruits, you don't find nectarines used in baking very often. Plums, apricots, cherries - yes. Nectarines not so much. And don't even start with the peaches. Peaches are to prom queens as nectarines are to sousaphone players in the marching band.
But the flavors in this recipe really compliment the nectarines. The spicy, gingery crust, tart cream cheese filling and the juicy, summery fruit are absolutely MFEO*.
This recipe is adapted from Bon Appetit. It's really a winner; you will want to make this. Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet has a couple of new products, namely, cream cheese and sour cream alternatives. Although I traditionally eschew faux products that imitate meat, cheese or other non-vegan foods as over-processed, over-packaged crap, I really like the Follow Your Heart brand so I thought, what the heck, I'll give it a try. I incorporated them in this yummy tart, and I can definitely say that I approve.
Nectarine Tart in a Gingersnap Crust
I made this in my fancy new 9 X 9 square tart pan (thanks Jackson!)
Serves 6 to 8
10 oz gingersnaps, processed finely
1/2 cup (1 stick) non-dairy margarine, melted
8 oz cream cheese substitute, room temperature
1/4 cup sour cream substitute
1/4 cur sugar
1 tbsp grated lemon zest
1/4 tsp vanilla
3-4 small nectarines, pitted and thinly sliced
2 tbsp peach jam, warmed
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add melted margarine and mix until crumbs are evenly moistened. Press mixture over the bottom and up the sides of the tart pan. Bake crust until color darkens, about 8 minutes. Cool completely.
Whisk cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, lemon zest and vanilla until smooth. Spread filling in prepared crust. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to 1 day.
Overlap nectarine slices atop filling. Brush with jam. Serve or refrigerate up to 6 hours.
Note: I emailed the friendly folks at Follow Your Heart asking them where they sourced their palm fruit oil (an ingredient in both the cream cheese and sour cream substitutes). I hate to be the preachy vegan, but I have considerable concern for deforestation and loss of biodiversity as a result of palm oil production, especially in Borneo and Sumatra which are the only remaining habitats of the orangutan. Read more here. This is the response I got from Follow Your Heart: 'We share your concern with the environmental impact of palm oil cultivation and harvesting. We have done research to ensure that our palm oil is grown and harvested sustainably, minimizing damage to ecosystem health. In addition, our palm oil is harvested in Colombia, which is not an orangutan habitat.' Pretty awesome, right?
*MFEO = made for each other. A nod to Sleepless in Seattle since we're on the subject of chick flicks.
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