If it is a human thing to do to put something you want, because it’s useful, edible, or beautiful, into a bag, or a basket, or a bit of rolled bark or leaf, or a net woven of your own hair, or what have you, and then take it home with you,
home being another, larger kind of pouch or bag, a container for people, and then later on you take it out and eat it or share it or store it up for winter in a solider container
or put it in the medicine bundle or the shrine or the museum, the holy place, the area that contains what is sacred, and then the next day you probably do much the same again—if to do that is human, if that’s what it takes, then
I am a human being after all. Fully, freely, gladly, for the first time.

—Ursula K. Le Guin, The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction

To walk through a bustling farmer’s market in the swell of summer is, to me, to submerge fully into the senses.
Sweaty, bare skin glitters and wafts about comfortingly plasticine, coconutty suncream and slightly animalistic, decidedly non-aluminumed body odor in the same way that perfectly ripe, fuzzy fruits begin to wilt, their precious juices betraying them under the sun, right next to bins full of seconds, of cuttings and rejects and compost that give off whiffs of decay.
I feel my own discomfort mirrored back as people seek shade, or fans, or cold, hawked $1 bottles of water. I feel my own wonder and pleasure mirrored back as we all zip between stalls, lifting fruit to our noses, pressing gently to see if flesh gives way, and then carefully storing our treasures into our canvas bags.

I wandered around the greenmarket a few weekends ago, hoping for inspiration. Every stall was overflowing with promise and produce. Plums and peaches always call to me. The fresh peach, indeed.
I took it as a positive portent that there were as many bees buzzing around the sugar plums as the honey stall next door.
Walking home to my apartment-container with my carrier bag full of precious jewels and my mind full of ideas on how to eat and share them was refreshingly human.
It’s summer. Too hot to think too hard about simple pleasures.

This brioche tart has a base of soft, fluffy, rich yeasted bread.
It starts with a preferment, then is kneaded for rather a long time, until it is stretchy and supple. A short first rise is followed by a long, cold second with a final rise after rolling and shaping. Once it is risen, it is painted with egg white and studded with Swedish pearl sugar. 
A rich, vanilla-bean laden pastry cream made with only egg yolks is spooned into the center.
The whole thing bakes together and while the center remains extra moist, it rises enough so as not to be the least stodgy. The pastry cream is thickened with cornstarch, which destabilizes a little bit in high heat—this means that when the bake is done, the center lands somewhere between crème pâtissière and crème anglais.
Nestled into the center are sliced drupes—plums, pluots, peaches. I threw some cherries on top too, though not for the photos.

The brioche has enough body to last a day in the fridge, but I recommend removing any sliced fruits before storing to avoid soggy bottoms.

Drupes, previously:

Plum Spice Olive Oil Cake
Plumcot and Frangipane Tart
Plum and Frangipane Pie
Plum and Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake
Peach Pie
Apricot and Peach Pie
Black Bottom Cherry Pie
Seriously Easy Stone Fruit Tart
Simplest Stone Fruit Tart 

Vanilla Cream Brioche Tart
makes 1 8-inch tart

for the brioche:
32 grams (2 tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon) whole milk, warm
1 teaspoon yeast
2 eggs, room temperature
168 grams (1 cup plus scant 1/3 cup) all purpose flour
27 grams (6.5 teaspoons) sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
68 grams (5 tablespoons) butter, softened

for the vanilla pastry cream:
480 grams (2 cups) whole milk
75 grams (6 tablespoons) sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
30 grams (3 tablespoons) cornstarch
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
3 egg yolks
43 grams (3 tablespoons) butter

to assemble:
1 egg white
Swedish pearl sugar

directions:
Make the brioche: place warm milk, yeast, egg, and about 1/3 of the flour into the bowl of a stand mixer and mix roughly together until it is a shaggy sponge.
Sprinkle with another 1/3 of the flour and leave uncovered for 45 minutes.
Take the butter out and place in a cool room temperature area.
After 45 minutes, mix the remaining egg, sugar, salt, and final 1/3 of the flour into the dough.
Scrape the sides of the bowl, then beat with the dough hook for a full 15 minutes.
At this point, your butter should be cool but soft and about the same “give” when you press it as the dough.
Add it in a few pieces at a time, then knead for another full 5 minutes.
The dough should be sticky and stretchy.
Place it into a well-buttered bowl and cover with a damp tea towel for 2 to 2.5 hours, or until doubled in size.
Punch the dough down gently at the edges, then cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Meanwhile, make the pastry cream: place milk over low heat in a medium sized pot.
Whisk sugar, salt, and cornstarch together very well until no lumps remain.
Whisk the dry ingredients into the egg yolks along with the vanilla bean paste.
Once the milk reaches a hard simmer, ladle a small amount into the egg yolk mixture while whisking constantly to temper the eggs.
Once the eggs are warmed and thinned, whisk them into the remaining milk and return to low-medium heat.
Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened.
Strain into a clean bowl and whisk in the butter until emulsified.
Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface to prevent a skin and refrigerate until completely cooled.
The dough should have grown back close to double its size by the 6-8 hour mark in the fridge.
Roll it out to a 10″ round circle on a well-floured board, then gently transfer it to a buttered 8″ springform pan.
Roll the edges up to create a border, then pinch them firmly to seal.
Press your fingers deeply into the center portion, to create deep dimples (this will help the pastry cream to fit after the proof is complete).
Cover with damp tea towel and allow to rise until puffed and nearly doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Spoon the pastry cream into the center divot and smooth out.
Brush the crust with egg white and press in Swedish pearl sugar gently.
Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown and the center is barely jiggly.
Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes, then remove springform and allow to cool completely.
Decorate and serve as desired.