peach almond crostata

Please be advised that this post discusses residential schools and the recent tragic discoveries of unmarked graves.

What sort of school comes with a graveyard?

About three months ago the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation found the remains of 215 children buried at the former Kamloops Residential School. Not long after, the Cowessess First Nation who reported 751 unmarked grave sites by Marieval Residential School. Then there were more and more – and still many other investigations are currently underway. These finding reflected what families and survivors had been explaining all along. Survivors of these “schools” (and remember, the last one closed in only 1996) live with trauma, their descendants with intergenerational trauma, yet have been continually questioned and disbelieved. I can only begin to imagine the complexity of the recent news for affected communities: the importance of these discoveries, but also the retraumatization, the grieving, and even after all this, encountering the resistance of institutions to release records and minimal political will for change.

And to be clear, it doesn’t end there and never really has. The Sixties Scoop saw, through child welfare services, a mass removal of indigenous children from their families. These policies persist to this day: over half of children in care are Indigenous and there are more children currently separated from their families today than there were during the height of the residential school system. Dozens of children continue to die in care every year – see in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario. This is not just something for us to move past – and we have blueprints from the TRC and MMIWG recommendations of what needs to change.

Just how many wake-up calls do we need? This should be an election issue, yet it doesn’t seem to be. With the federal election happening soon, ask candidates in your riding what plans they have to implement the TRC and MMIWG recommendations.

Read:

• Murray Sinclair on reconciliation, anger, unmarked graves – Maclean’s
• Fighting Foster Care – Maclean’s
• Against Residential School Denialism (ways to help combat the myths of denialists) – The Tyee
• An Overview of the Indian Residential School System – the Anishinabek Nation
• Our Stories – a summary of many issues from Centennial College
• The Survivors Speak – A TRC report
• This Place: 150 Years Retold – A graphic novel
• Residential schools through primary documents – The National Post

Support:

• Indian Residential School Survivors Society
• First Nations Child and Family Caring Society
• your local Bear Clan Patrol chapter and other grassroots and community groups.

This peach almond crostata is very much inspired by Forno Cultura‘s summer peach crostata. And what a great formula for a fruit tart it is: pastry, almond cream, jam, sliced fruit and slivered almonds to fill in the gaps. The exciting new component for me is the pasta frolla, which makes up a sweet and tender crust with a biscuity crispness to it… I can’t wait to make more crostatas next summer!

• Servings: one 14 by 4 1/2 inch tart (36 by 12cm)
• Print

Crostata inspired by Forno Cultura. Pasta frolla adapted from Domenica Marchetti. Almond cream based on a typical frangipane ratio.

special equipment

• 14×4 1/2 inch rectangular tart tin (36x12cm)

pasta frolla

• 180g all-purpose flour
• 40g icing sugar
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• scant 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 110g cold butter, cut into small cubes
• 1 large egg

peach jam

• 2 peaches, peeled, pitted and finely chopped
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar

almond cream

• 56g soft butter
• 45g granulated sugar
• 65g finely ground almonds
• 1 large egg
• 12g all purpose flour
• 2 tbsp amaretto (or dark rum)

assembly

• about 2 peaches
• slivered almonds
• apricot jam to glaze (optional)

For the pasta frolla, place the flour, icing sugar, baking powder and salt in the bowl a food process and pulse to combine. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Add the egg and process until the dough begins to come together into a few large clumps – it will take a little while, around 30 seconds.

Press the dough together into a disc, wrap in plastic and chill completely.

For the peach jam, place the chopped peach and sugar together int a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat until the peach is softened. Crush with a potato masher or back of a fork to a rough puree, then bring to a simmer for a few minutes until the mixture is thickened and jam-like. Let cool.

For the almond cream, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Mix in the almonds, then beat in the egg. Next, mix in the flour and finally the amaretto.

To assemble, roll out the pasta frolla on a lightly floured surface until it’s about 3mm (1/4″) thick. Drape over a 36x12cm rectangular tart tin, pressing the dough into all the edges and corners and trimming off the excess. Patch any tears. Cover and chill completely.

Preheat the oven to 375F. Spread the almond cream into the bottom of the tart. Dollop small spoonfuls of the jam evenly overtop and then gently spread to cover most of the surface (if you’re having trouble spreading the jam you can chill the almond cream first to firm it up a bit).

Cut the two peaches in half. Slice each half into thin slices. Set aside a few of the smaller slices from each end and fan the remaining slices alongside one edge of the tart (see pictures). Sprinkle the remaining surface area with slivered almonds.

Bake about 35-40 minutes or until the tart is browned. If you’d like to glaze the peach slices, melt together 2 tsp apricot jam with 1/2 tsp water and brush over the baked peaches. Let cool completely.