Apricot And Almond Tart Recipes

Steps:

• Place apricots and whisky in a saucepan, bring to a simmer and set aside. Turn apricots in warm whisky from time to time while continuing with preparation.
• Heat oven to 450 degrees. Combine flour, 1/4 cup ground almonds, salt and granulated sugar in a bowl or food processor. Whisk to combine. By hand or machine, add butter, pulsing or using a pastry blender to make a crumbly mixture. Beat egg yolk with 4 tablespoons cold water and add, mixing or pulsing until ingredients come together to form a dough. Add a little more water as needed.
• Shape pastry into a flattened disk on a floured surface and roll to fit a 9-inch straight-sided tart pan. Prick the bottom. Line with foil and pastry weights and bake 10 minutes. Remove foil and weights and bake 10 minutes more, until lightly golden. Remove from oven. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.
• Drain apricots, reserving any whisky. Tightly line pastry shell with apricots. Whisk together the remaining 1/2 cup ground almonds and confectioners' sugar in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk mascarpone until smooth. Beat 2 remaining eggs and add to mascarpone along with reserved whisky and almond extract. Mix into combined almonds and confectioners' sugar. Pour over apricots in pastry shell.
• Place tart in oven and bake 20 minutes. Sprinkle sliced almonds around the outside edge of the tart filling to form a border about an inch wide. Return to oven and bake another 15 to 20 minutes, until the filling is puffed and lightly browned. Remove from oven, place on a rack and let cool to room temperature before serving.

Steps:

• To make the pastry: in the bowl of a food processor, combine the butter, flour and salt. Pulse until the mixture resembles very fine bread crumbs. Add the confectioners' sugar, egg yolk and 2 tablespoons chilled water, and pulse a few times to bring the mixture together. Pour onto a work surface and knead the dough sparingly until smooth, being careful not to overwork it. Flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes or up to 24 hours.
• To make the frangipane: In a food processor, grind the almonds to a fine powder. Transfer to a bowl. In the food processor, combine 1 cup brown sugar, butter, and vanilla pulp. Process until light and fluffy, then with motor running add the flour and the eggs. Add the ground almonds and pulse to mix evenly. Set aside at room temperature or refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Bring to room temperature and stir before using.
• To assemble: Lightly flour a cool work surface and roll the pastry into a large disk about 1/4-inch thick. Press into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable base and trim the edge. Chill at least 1 hour.
• Heat oven to 325 degrees with a large baking sheet on the middle rack. Spread frangipane in the chilled tart pan, and nestle the apricot halves evenly on top, cut sides up. Sprinkle each half with about 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar. Place the tart on the baking sheet and bake until golden, and set, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. If the top appears to be browning too fast, cover loosely with foil.
• Trim any baked overflow to loosen the edge of the tart. Press up the bottom of the pan to loosen the sides and cool the tart in the pan on a wire rack. When completely cool, serve with crème fraîche or whipped cream.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• To make the frangipane, place the almonds and the sugar in a food processor and grind until sandy. Add the butter and continue mixing then add the egg, vanilla, and the flour and mix until smooth.
• To make the tart, on a floured work surface pass your rolling pin over the pastry just to flatten any ridges.
• Place it on a parchment paper lined sheet pan and cut out a 9-inch disk. Spread the almond frangipane in the center of the tart leaving a 1-inch border. Firmly place the apricot halves into the frangipane spacing them evenly around the tart. Dot the spaces between the apricots with the whole almonds.
• Bake until golden brown on the top and puffy, about 30 to 40 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.

Steps:

• Make tart shell:
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F.
• Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 14-inch round and fit into bottom and side of tart pan, then trim flush with top of rim. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Lightly prick bottom of shell all over with a fork, then line with foil and fill with weights. Bake until pastry is pale golden along rim, and set underneath weights, 18 to 20 minutes. Carefully remove foil and weights and bake shell until bottom and side are golden, about 10 minutes more. Cool completely in pan on a rack, about 30 minutes. Leave oven on.
• Fill and bake tart:
• While shell cools, roast apricots in 1 layer, cut sides up, in a 13- by 9-inch baking dish 30 minutes, then set aside.
• Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.
• Pulse almonds with 2 tablespoons sugar and a pinch of salt in a food processor until finely ground.
• Beat together butter and 1/4 cup sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in almond mixture, vanilla, and almond extract until just combined.
• Spread frangipane evenly in tart shell. Arrange apricots, cut sides up, on top of frangipane. (Frangipane will puff up around apricots when baked.) Bake until frangipane is golden brown and just firm to the touch, about 45 minutes.
• Preheat broiler.
• Sprinkle top of tart with remaining 2 teaspoons sugar and broil about 6 inches from heat until sugar is melted and top of tart is browned, 1 to 2 minutes (watch carefully). Cool to warm or room temperature in pan on a rack, at least 30 minutes.

Steps:

• Sift the flour into a large bowl.
• Add the butter and rub in until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.
• Stir in the sugar, then mix in the egg to make a soft, pliable dough.
• Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
• Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured work surface and use to line the tart pan.
• Prebake with the weights in a 400°F oven for 10 minutes,until the pastry shell is beginning to brown at the edge.
• Remove the weights and foil and bake for 5-10 minutes.
• Leave to cool.
• Put the apricots, cut side down, in a shallow pan with the lemon juice, water, and sugar.
• Cover tightly and bring to a boil.
• Lower the heat and simmer gently for 3 minutes or until just soft.
• Remove the apricots with a slotted spoon, reserving the juices.
• Drain on paper towels, and leave to cool.
• Remove the pastry shell from the tart pan and put on a serving plate.
• Spread the pastry cream over the pastry shell and smooth the surface.
• Arrange the apricots, cut side down, on the pastry cream.
• Combine the arrowroot (or cornstarch) and brandy (or almond extract) in a small bowl and stir in the reserved apricot juices.
• Return the mixture to the pan and bring to a boil, stirring until thick.
• Add the toasted slivered almonds.
• Spoon the glaze over the apricots,making sure they are coated evenly. (Add a little water to the glaze of it is too thick.)
• Leave to stand until the glaze has cooled and set.
• Serve the tart cold.
• Pastry Cream: Put the 3 eggs, 3/8 cup vanilla sugar, and 1/2 cup flour into a large bowl, add a little milk taken from 1 2/3 cup, and mix until smooth.
• Pour the remaining milk into a heavy saucepan and bring almost to a boil.
• Pour onto the egg mixture, whisking well.
• Rinse out the saucepan, return the egg mixture to the pan, and cook over low heat, stirring, for 15-20 minutes until thickened.
• Pour into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, gently pressing it over the surface of the custard to prevent a skin from forming.
• Leave to cool.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 220C/gas 7/fan 200C. Unroll the pastry on to a lightly dampened baking sheet (this creates steam which helps puff up the pastry), then sprinkle over the ground almonds. Lay the apricot halves over the top, nestling them closely together, right up to the edge of the pastry.
• Dust with the icing sugar and bake for 20-25 minutes until the sugar starts to caramelise a little. If you like, drizzle with maple syrup and serve hot, warm or cold. If you really want to indulge, serve with a spoonful of clotted cream or a pouring of single cream.