Ingredients for 6 small tarts: - For the shortcrust pastry:250 g plain Flour80 g cane sugar150 g butter2 eggs1 untreated lemon , the grated peel1 pinch of salt 6 small round tart tins (diameter 10 cm) - For the mousse:1 kg small, ripe peaches (yellow-fleshed and full of flavour)100 g sugar10 g gelatin200 ml fresh cream - For the zabaglione:5 egg yolks8 tbsp cane sugar5 tbsp Vin Santo del Chianti D.O.C. - For decoration:6 tsp butter6 tsp cane sugar icing sugar
For the shortcrust pastry: sift the flour into a bowl, add the sugar, eggs, softened butter (take it out of the fridge at least 20 minutes beforehand) cut into pieces, grated lemon peel and a pinch of salt. Start mixing with a fork, and then use your hands until you have a smooth, elastic ball of dough, which you will then put in the fridge to rest for about an hour, covered with a cotton cloth.
For the peach mousse: set aside 3 peaches to use for decoration; clean and wash the others, dice them and put the pieces in a heavy-bottomed pan with the sugar. Cook over a moderate heat for 7-8 minutes, stirring frequently, until the pieces of peach have softened, then turn off the heat. In the meanwhile, put the sheet gelatin in very cold water to soak for at least 10 minutes. Transfer the cooked peach into a deep bowl and purée it with a stick blender. Squeeze the sheet gelatin between your hands, add it to the peach purée (which needs to still be fairly hot) and stir well. In another bowl, whip the cream with the sugar. Add it to the peach mixture, folding it in delicately from bottom to top. Put the mousse in the fridge for at least an hour to thicken.
Take the dough out of the fridge and use it to line the bottom and side of the tart tins (greased with butter and dusted with flour). Prick the pastry in each tin with the prongs of a fork, so it doesn’t “rise” while cooking. Bake in a preheated oven, at 180 °C, for 15 minutes. Remove the tart bases from the oven and leave them to cool down completely.
For the zabaglione: fill a deep saucepan to not quite halfway up with water and heat it. Break the eggs and “drop” the yolks into a small, deep saucepan with a long handle, bearing in mind that it will go into the other pan (in a “bain-marie”) with the hot water. Beat the yolks with the sugar until smooth, light and almost white. Slowly add the Vin Santo, stirring to amalgamate everything thoroughly. Now transfer the small saucepan into the “bain-marie” and let the zabaglione simmer over a low heat, whisking continuously. When it begins to have a homogeneous, smooth, frothy and very creamy consistency, it’s ready.
To decorate the plates: cut the 3 peaches you set aside in half; remove the stones and put a small knob of butter and a teaspoon of sugar into each cavity. Arrange them on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper, and cook them in a preheated oven, at 170 °C, for 10-15 minutes. Take them out of the oven and leave to cool.
Remove the tart bases (now completely cold) from their tins and fill them with the peach mousse. Serve each small tart with 2 spoonfuls of zabaglione, 1 of the oven-cooked peach halves and, lastly, a good sprinkling of icing sugar. The recipe is a bit elaborate, but the tarts look and taste so good that they are well worth the effort….