Peach and Maple Free Form Tarts

I love the fresh taste of peaches in the summer, so I have used this seasonal stone fruit to bake some free form tarts that have a sweet shortcrust pastry lightened with ground almonds, topped with fanned peach halves and brushed with maple syrup. 

The pastry is crisp and very crumbly due to the almonds with a melt in the mouth texture. It has a lovely subtle flavour but works perfectly with the topping. The peach is sweet and fruity, and is absolutely delicious with the small amount of maple syrup included. Making these again, I would reduce the oven temperature a little as the pastry browned faster than I would have liked due to its sugar content, meaning that I ended up having to cover the tarts for the last 5 minutes of baking to cook the base of the pastry so I didn't have a soggy bottom. I possibly also should have moved my oven rack down closer to the bottom as this would have aided in it baking more evenly. I can't complain, however, as I didn't expect it to cook much at all as the peach was very juicy. So I am over the moon with these wonderful tarts.