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I’ve been asking for a tart pan for Christmas the last couple of years, and this past Christmas, my son, Daniel, and his wife, Katelyn, gave me one.

I washed the pan and stored it in the cabinet until I found this recipe a few weeks ago.

The recipe was tucked away in a folder I have full of recipes I want to try some day.

I’d torn the recipe from the October/November 2012 issue of Taste of Home Magazine.

Peach-Blueberry Crumble Tart

INGREDIENTS

— 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

— 1/4 cup sugar

— 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

— 1/2 cup butter, melted

— 2 cups frozen unsweetened blueberries, thawed

— 2 cups frozen unsweetened sliced peaches, thawed

— 1 tablespoon honey

Crumb Topping

— 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

— 1/4 cup packed brown sugar

— 1/4 cup old fashioned oats

— 1/4 cup chopped pecans

— 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

— 2 tablespoons butter, melted

INSTRUCTIONS

In a small bowl, mix the flour, sugar and cinnamon; stir in butter just until blended. Press onto the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch fluted tart pan with removable bottom. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.

In a large bowl, combine the blueberries, peaches and honey; toss to coat. In a small bowl, combine the first five topping ingredients; stir in butter.

Spoon fruit mixture into crust; sprinkle with topping. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until topping is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.

 

It was a cold day outside, and I wanted something sweet.

I had blueberries in the freezer, and I thought I had peaches in there too; perfect.

The blueberries were not hard to find in the freezer, and I set them out to thaw. Then I began my search for the frozen peaches.

I looked in the freezer attached to my refrigerator, and they weren’t in there.

I headed to the basement to look in the big freezer, and after digging around, I found a bag that was partially used. I sat them on the counter to thaw, too.

I got my new tart pan out, and started assembling the crust, which was a breeze.

I poured the crust mixture into the tart pan and patted it evenly on the bottom and up the sides.

Once this was done, I placed the tart pan in the oven and baked the crust for 20 minutes.

While the crust cooled, I poured the partially-frozen blueberries into a bowl.

I opened the partial bag of peaches, and they looked awful. I wondered what to do.

I searched the freezer again for more frozen peaches with no luck. Since the recipe calls for the peaches to be thawed, I decided I would try using some of the peaches I canned last year. Surely that would work.

I drained the peaches and added them to the bowl of blueberries then added the honey.

Next, I gently tossed the fruit to coat it in the honey.

I sat the bowl aside while I prepared the crumb topping. To a small bowl I added the flour, brown sugar, old fashioned oats, chopped pecans and ground cloves, then poured in the melted butter and combined everything with a fork.

By then the crust had completely cooled. I poured in the fruit, sprinkled the topping over the fruit and into the oven it went.

I let it bake for 38 minutes until it was golden brown and bubbly.

I pulled the pan from the oven and smiled. The tart looked beautiful.

I could hardly wait to give it a try.

Once the tart had cooled a bit, I placed my hand on the bottom of the pan and pushed the tart up through the pan sides.

It came out great, and I sat it back on the cooling rack.

I sliced into the delicious-looking dessert and slid out a slice for myself and a slice for Brad.

I added a dab of vanilla ice cream to mine and dug in.

Not only did this dessert look delicious, it tasted delicious.

Brad especially liked it because it wasn’t overly sweet. I liked it because it was dessert.

The crust reminded me of a shortbread cookie, and I love shortbread cookies.

This dessert was too good to keep all to ourselves so we shared with our neighbors, Rachel and Chris.

Rachel said, “Oh, oh, oh. I just took two bites. It was still warm and had the perfect mix of sweet, tart, crunchy goodness. I wouldn’t change a thing! Not one single thing. The crust … it’s perfectly shaped. I taste cinnamon and butter in the crust. You’ve killed it with this one.”

Rachel decided this is her favorite of all the desserts she has taste tested for me.

I told her she didn’t have to share with Chris if she didn’t want to but she said he enjoys my desserts and she’d feel guilty if she didn’t share.

We all decided this recipe hits the nail on the head and is a winner.

Using drained canned peaches didn’t seem to hurt it one bit.

Now it definitely has a place in my self-made cook book, and I love my new tart pan.

Sarah Condley is an amateur baker and chef who is compiling a cookbook of her favorite recipes.