Savor the Season

We are so lucky here in Southern California to have farmers markets everyday of the week, offering what is fresh and seasonal from local farms.  I think that that was one of the things that I was most excited about when we moved here (aside from the fact that it is pretty much 70° and sunny year round).  It’s so much fun to walk through the market and get inspired by what’s available that week.  As a result, instead of cooking according to whatever I will buy at the grocery store, I have tried my best to cook with what is in season.

This week I decided that I wanted to get baking with some juicy apricots.  While I’ve done a lot of baking with nectarines and peaches, I had yet to do something with apricots; however, I knew exactly what I wanted to bake.  A few years ago I came across the blog Tartelette, and was taken by her delicious food and amazing photography.  She had written a beautiful post on an Apricot Almond Tart, which has been in the back of my mind for the past few years.

At first I didn’t bake it because I wasn’t all that into cooking and baking.  A few years passed and my excuse for not baking it was that I didn’t have a tart pan.  Eventually, I did find a cute tart pan from Anthropologie.  So, seeing as I was out of excuses, the time had come.

gathering my ingredients

love my tart pan

dough par-baked, apricots ready

Now here’s the part where I am a bit of a naughty blogger.  I have a real problem with pulling fresh baked goods out of the oven and taking a picture first…I often take a bite first.  So, my apologies for the already tucked into tart, but honestly, it was that good.

So many layers of delicate flavors – the buttery crust, the sweet honey, the almonds, and the tangy apricots.  Every bite as good as the last.  The only sad part about baking this was that it didn’t last very long.  Oh well, guess I’ll just have to bake another!