TWD: Baked Yogurt Tart with Blueberries and Almonds

We're back with another delicious recipe from Baking with Julia! This week, my fellow bakers and I tackled a pretty simple recipe for a Baked Yogurt Tart. This recipe was really, really easy for me because I happened to have a couple disks of pie dough frozen and ready to use!

First, the crust is par-baked in a 9" cake pan. I ended up just using my deep dish pie pan because it's so pretty and I never use it all that often. I knew that my pie pan would make the tart a bit deeper than the recipe intended and thus extend the baking time, but I chose to go with it anyway. After the baked crust is cool, it is filled with a mixture of yogurt, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and flour. Top with the berries, fruit, and a sprinkling of toasted nuts and the tart is ready to bake!

I chose to top my tart with sliced peaches (my husband's favorite fruit) and fresh blueberries (MY favorite!). The recipe indicates that the tart should bake for 35-40 minutes or until "browned on top." Mine baked for a good 50 minutes before it finally set up. Unfortunately, the peaches leached a lot of juice into tart, creating a nice little puddle in the center. I'm a big fan of peach juice, but really thought the tiny swimming pool in the center of my dessert was a little unappetizing. I just dabbed off the extra juice with a couple of paper towels once the whole thing was pulled out of the oven - no harm done!

We waited until this cooled to room temperature before trying a piece. Full of yogurt flavor mingled with the sweet fruit juices - this was a refreshing summer dessert that could almost be an appropriate brunch item! I really enjoyed both the creamy texture of the filling and the fact that this was really not very sweet at all. The remainder of the tart is currently chilling in our refrigerator because we want to see how it tastes cold. I honestly thought the only part that was a bit of place was the pie crust. While it tastes delicious, I thought a graham cracker or oatmeal crust would have been a more appropriate pairing with the filling. That could just be my intense love for the granola/yogurt combination coming through!

Check out the Tuesdays with Dorie website to see how the other bakers fared with this tart! You can make this tart for yourself by picking up a copy of Baking with Julia. I have also posted my lightly adapted version of the recipe below.

Baked Yogurt Tart
adapted from Baking with Julia

For the tart:
1 recipe of pie dough or flaky tart dough, well chilled
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 tablespoons vanilla
2 cups plain, nonfat yogurt
3/4 cup flour

For the topping:
1/3 cup blanched slivered almonds, toasted
1 1/2 - 2 cups sliced peaches and blueberries (or other fruit of choice!)

To parbake the crust: Roll the dough out and fit into a 9-inch deep dish pie pan. Alternatively, you can use a 9-inch pie pan or springform pan. Flute the edges and chill the pie crust in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Fit a square of parchment or foil in the center of the pie crust and fill with pie weights, rice, or dried beans. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the crust is lightly browned. Let cool completely to room temperature on a wire rack.

Reduce the oven to 325 degrees. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the sugar and eggs together on medium speed for 3-4 minutes, or until well-mixed and pale yellow in color. Add the yogurt and vanilla and gently stir everything together with a spatula to mix well. Gradually sift the flour into the mixture, folding everything together with a spatula. Pour the yogurt mixture into the prepared crust and top with the fruit of choice, arranging the fruit in a pretty pattern all over the top of the filling. Gently sprinkle the toasted almonds along the circumference of the filling.

Bake for 35-50 minutes or until the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature. Serve at room temperature or chilled.