Tarte Aux Abricots - Glazed French Apricot Tart With Almonds

Submitted by French Tart

"This is my favourite type of French fruit tart, even more so than apple tart! Our local Patisserie makes a wonderful Tarte aux Abricots, but they are quite expensive and VERY large, much too big for the two of us when we have no B and B guests! So, I have been tinkering in the kitchen again, and have come up with this recipe. You MUST use fresh apricots for this - tinned ones are too soft and too sweet. Plus, I love the slightly tart flavour that the fresh apricots lend to the flavours of this tart. The ground almonds are scattered over the base of the short crust pastry case to stop it becoming soggy during cooking; they also provide a complimentary flavour to the apricots. A classic French tart that will make a delightful ending to any special meal or for afternoon tea. Serve this tart with fresh whipped cream or crème fraiche."

 

• Ready In: 3hrs
• Ingredients: 17
• Yields: 1 Tarte aux Abricots
• Serves: 8

ingredients

• Pastry

• 75 g cold unsalted butter
• 175 g plain flour, sieved
• zest of a lemon
• 1 tablespoon caster sugar
• 1 egg
• splash cold water

• The Filling

• 650 g fresh apricots, not too ripe
• 2 tablespoons soft light brown sugar
• 6 tablespoons ground almonds
• 2 large free-range eggs
• 50 g caster sugar
• 1 vanilla pod
• 200 ml double cream or 200 ml whipping cream

• Glaze

• 5 tablespoons apricot jam

• To Finish

• icing sugar
• fresh edible flower
• creme fraiche or cream

directions

1. Heat oven to 200ºC/400ºF/Gas Mark 6. To make the pastry place the cold butter into a food processor with the sieved flour and lemon zest. Blitz until the mixture becomes the texture of breadcrumbs.
2. Whisk the sugar into the egg then pour into the machine with a splash of water. Blitz just long enough for the mixture to form a ball. Remove with your hands and ensure you have a nice firm ball by moulding with your hands. Wrap in cling film and leave in the fridge for at least an hour.
3. Meanwhile halve and stone your apricots then place on a baking tray cut side up. Sprinkle all over with the light brown sugar then bake them in the oven for 15-20 minutes until they are soft to the point of a knife but not falling apart.
4. Roll out and line a 25cm loose-bottomed tart tin with the pastry. Chill again for ideally an hour but a minimum of 30 minutes.
5. Once rested prick all over the base with a fork then line with parchment paper and follow with baking beans. Bake blind for 15-20 minutes until the base is just beginning to crisp but has not browned. Remove the beans and allow to cool.
6. Sprinkle the ground almonds all over the base then top with a layer of apricots. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together until light and fluffy. Remove the vanilla seeds from the pod and whisk into the egg mixture along with the double cream or whipping cream.
7. Place the tart onto a baking tray then carefully pour over the custard mixture. Place in the oven for 15 minutes then lower the heat to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas mark 4 for a further 15-20 minutes when the custard should be set and a lovely golden colour.
8. For the Glaze: Warm the jam and allow to cool just above room temperature and then pour or spoon it over the tart.
9. Allow to cool before slicing and serving with crème fraîche, plenty of icing sugar and some edible flowers.

Reviews

[BellaBean]

Excellent tart and a great way to utilize fresh apricots! THe crust was super easy and tasty--best if eaten within 24 hours as the crust will begin to soften. The crushed almonds add a great touch--thanks for sharing!

 

[The Flying Chef]

Utterly Fabulous!!!! I made this today and I have only allowed us to share one piece between the 3 of us. I have my family coming down tomorrow and I want it for then.. I will no doubt have to come back and update this review then as I know they will love this. I am also having to stop my son and hubby taking sneaky little slithers from the fridge until then.. lol.. No seriously this is well worth the effort to make it turns out sensational and for me far better than any tart I have bought from the bakers. This is the absolute perfect combination of ingredients FT and this one has gone straight into my favourites. I served ours with fresh whipped cream today, but I have bought some vanilla bean ice cream to serve with it, along with the whipped cream tomorrow. Totally indulgent but totally delicious. This is a winner with a big thumbs up. :) Update: My whole family had this today with fresh whipped cream and vanilla bean ice cream. Every single one of them said wow. Not to boast but we really are the tart family in the sense that we live in Switzerland so like FT we get some really amazing tarts from our local village bakeries. There were 7 more people that tried this today and they all said how superb it was. The only criticism my mum had was that the apricot glaze over the top would have been better if I had used my mums homemade apricot jam with lavender. I have to agree that would have added a whole different taste to it. But then I am blessed to have a mum that makes some pretty mean preserves. But all my family could not stop going on about the taste of the tart in general and also the fact that using the fresh apricots that were not over ripe, just added to the tart flavour and for us just pushed it over the top. I have gone on now I know, but for those who are put off by all the steps and the labour intensive steps from the pastry to the apricots to the baking of the tart itself. All I can say is that if you love apricots and this kind of thing it will in no way disappoint, FT has come up with the absolute perfect tart recipe.

 

[shooter77]

Delicious! i made this for an afternoon tea, and everybody loved it, and I took leftovers to work and everybody loved it there too!

 

[claude_vanstraelen]

I made this yesterday and it's the best apricot tart I've ever made - it disappeared in 10 minutes between 8 of us... and everyone was looking for seconds... Congratulations on a most delicious dessert...