Apricot Frangipane Tart

Yay, I have a new banner! It's a picture of miniature food I've made over quite a while, yeah my hobbies seem to revolve around food... I don't think it's a bad thing though :) ;  It means I can make my miniatures more realistic because I know how to make them in real life, and making things in miniature helps me to think of ways to present real food, so 'one hand washes the other'.

The other day I was thinking about things it could make both in miniature and in real life which would be relatively simple make, whilst being able to make them look similar. We also had a bunch of ripe apricots in the fridge and a few hungry people visiting the next day. What could be better than a tart?

I have to say that my favourite part of tarts is the frangipane filling, mmm I love the sweet almond flavor. It compliments the fruit so well. There's also almond in the pastry for extra flavor, but I'm sure you could replace the ground almonds in either the pastry or the frangipane with some other ground nuts, toasted hazelnuts would be my next choice.

Pastry

4 oz flour

1.5oz sugar

1.5 oz ground almonds

3oz (6 tbsp) cubed butter, very cold

1 egg yolk/white (or 1/2 an egg)

a few drops of almond + vanilla extract

Frangipane Filling

2 oz light brown sugar

2 oz (4tbsp) butter, soft

1 egg

a few drops of almond extract

4oz ground almonds

10-15 Fresh Apricots, halved and pitted

Apricot jam

In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar and almonds. Blend in half the butter until fully combined. Add the remaining pastry ingredients and blend until just combined. Turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap, bring pastry together into a ball and flatten into a disk, wrap, then put in the fridge or freezer until firm (about 30 minutes). 

Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Cream butter and sugar together. Mix in egg and extract then stir in ground almonds, set aside until needed. 

Once your pastry is firm, preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Roll out your pastry on a lightly floured surface or on a piece of parchment paper. When it is large enough to fit into your tart case, roll the pastry onto your rolling pin and unroll it into the tart case. Prick the base with a fork and blind bake for 10-15 minutes or until the pastry is a light golden colour. 

While the pastry is baking, heat apricot halves in a pan with equal quantities of sugar and water over a medium heat until they are fully coated with syrup, set aside. 

Once the pastry case is done, turn the oven up to 350 degree F. Fill the pastry case with the frangipane, top with the apricot halves and sprinkle generously with coarse brown sugar. Bake in the oven for 30-45 minutes or until the frangipane is golden brown all over. Glaze the fruit with some warmed apricot jam using a pastry brush and leave to cool.