Apricot and almond frangipane tart

Makes 1 23cm tart which serves 8-10

Ingredients:

Shortcrust pastry:
100g cold unsalted butter, cubed into 2cm dice
30g caster sugar
1/4 tsp. fine sea salt
175g plain flour
35ml cold water

Frangipane:
75g butter, room temperature, unsalted
75g caster sugar
1 egg, room temperature
1 Tablespoon Disaronno or other almond flavoured liquer or 1/2 tsp. almond extract
80g almond meal
20g plain flour
1/4 tsp. fine sea salt

6-8 ripe apricots
1 Tbsp. caster sugar

Equipment needed: 23cm fluted tart tin with removable base

Method:

Start by making the pastry dough.  In a medium sized mixing bowl combine the flour, salt and sugar. Add the cold diced butter on top and then use your finger tips to crumble the butter into the flour and continue working it in until the crumble has pieces that are no larger than pea-sized. You can also do this in a food processor if you prefer. Pour the water into the bowl and just stir and press together. Dump it out onto a clean bench and knead together 3-4 times until it holds together smoothly and no longer looks shaggy. Don’t overwork it though, as you don’t want to develop the gluten resulting in a tough dough. Press it into a disc and wrap in baking paper or reusable wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour but this can be done a day in advance or made several days in advance, frozen and thawed in the fridge before rolling.

After the dough has chilled, preheat your oven to 175C. Unwrap the dough and sandwich it between two sheets of baking paper. Use a rolling pin to roll it out until it’s approximately 2mm thick. Peel off the top layer of paper and flip so the dough is facing down and gently place the dough over your (23cm) fluted tart tin with removable base. If it’s a very hot day and your dough feels too soft, refrigerate it for 10 minutes to firm up again before proceeding.

Peel off the remaining layer of baking paper and gently press the dough into the pan being sure it is completely flush on the bottom with the tin and pressed into all the crevices. You can cut off excess dough using scissors but leave about a 1 cm overhang of dough above the edge of the tin to allow for shrinkage while baking. Use excess dough to press into the tin where the dough may not have fully come up the sides or a weak spot appears. It’s quite forgiving in this way.

Refrigerate the dough again for a further 30 minutes. Reserve any excess dough for patching up any holes that may appear once the tart is baked.

Place the chilled tart on top of a baking sheet. Crumple up a sheet of baking paper and then unwrap it and place it on top of the dough (crumpling it just makes it softer so it gets into all the corners) and then pour in pie weights or dried beans or rice. Enough to come up to the top of the tart tin. Bake for 30 minutes then carefully remove the baking paper and pie weights. Poke a few holes in the base with a fork and return it to the oven to continue baking for a further 20-30 minutes until the base of the tart is golden brown and there are no pale patches. Depending on how even your oven is, you probably want to flip it around, back to front, about halfway through this bake time. Remove it from the oven and allow it to cool.

Once cooled, use a vegetable peeler or microplane to cut away the overhand of dough so all you are left with is a perfectly flush with the edge tart base.

Halve the apricots and remove the stones. Then cut them into quarters. Set aside while you make your frangipane.

To make the frangipane, place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and whip on high speed until light and fluffy.  Add in the egg and continue beating until incorporated. Add the Disaronno or almond extract and mix to combine.  Stop the machine and add in the flour, almond meal and salt and mix on low until combined. 

Scoop the frangipane into the blind baked tart shell and spread it out to cover the base of the tart. 

Place the apricots on top of the frangipane with the thin cut ends pointed up. Cover the entire surface of the tart with as much fruit as you can. The more fruit, the better. Sprinkle the top with a tablespoon of caster sugar.

Bake at 175C for 40-50 minutes until the top is golden and completely set (not jiggly).  Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Unmould, slice and serve with unsweetened whipped cream.