Cherry & Almond Creme Fraiche Tart

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw cherries at the farmers market this weekend. I tasted a few just to make sure they didn't taste like they were too early in the season and they tasted great. I was almost hesitant to turn then into a tart since they were so good plain but I had my heart set on baking a dessert with seasonal fruit with some leftover creme fraiche, so a tart it became :)
I looked through my cookbooks to see if I could get inspired by anything and I saw an interesting take on a tart in Local Flavors cookbook by Deborah Madison. She has you make a batter like tart base which is almost like a cake with a creme fraiche & fruit filling inside. The original recipe used raspberries and had all purpose flour in the base but I decided to change it a bit and went with cherries and almond flour for the base. Almonds go very well with cherries, so I made it a triple whammy of almond in the tart with almond flour in the base, almond extract in the creme fraiche filling and sliced almonds on top. The flavor of the tart is amazing! The cherries taste even more like cherries from being cooked down a little bit and the almond flour crust kept it really moist and fudgy and the creme fraiche filling was almost custardy. I think raspberries pair really well with almond flour too so you could try this gluten free tart with raspberries as well if you prefer.

I love my copy of Local Flavors, especially since it is signed by the author, Deborah Madison, who I credit to making me me fall in love with vegetables. She has a way with words with describing colors, textures, flavors that make your mouth water and want to eat every vegetable in sight. I met Deborah Madison at an eco conference I attended at Asilomar and I came across as an overly enthusiastic person every time I approached her, yikes! I think she was surprised by my fervor. But she is the truly the goddess of vegetables and you should check out her cookbooks.

Recipe heavily adapted from Local Flavors, Deborah Madison
Makes 8 servings

Ingredients:
8 tbsp butter at room temp, plus 1 tbsp butter for greasing pan
5 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
120 gm almond flour (~1 cup)
12 oz cherries, pitted
120 gm creme fraiche (~3/4 cup)
1 egg yolk
3 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp almond extract
50 gm sliced almond (~1/4 cup)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 F. Melt 1 tbsp butter and grease a 10" pie or tart pan really well. Refrigerate while you make the rest of the tart. Cream butter, sugar and vanilla extract till light in color and slightly fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and beat them in. Add almond flour and mix it in just until combined. Pour this batter into the prepared tart pan and spread the batter up the sides of the pan so it reaches 2/3 of the way up the sides. Scatter cherries in the middle. Whisk creme fraiche with the egg yolk, sugar and almond extract in a bowl and pour this over the cherries. Scatter the almond slices over top. Bake for ~45 minutes, till the edges have browned well and the center is almost set. it'll still bubble a bit since cherry juices are still present but don't worry. They'll get absorbed as the tart cools. Cool the tart completely before slicing.