Apricot & Almond Tart

Crispy almond and lime shortbread: To make this apricot and almond tart recipe, start by preparing all the ingredients for the shortbread.

Place the butter at room temperature and the icing sugar into the stand mixer bowl.

Begin mixing with the paddle attachment at moderate speed.

When the butter and icing sugar mixture turns into a cream texture ("creaming method")...

...add the almond powder, which is whole and toasted here. The recipe could be made with blanched almond powder, which would simply need to be toasted for 10 minutes in the oven at 150°C.

Zest the lime over the bowl...

...and add the whole egg, previously weighed.

Then mix until fully incorporated.

Add the flour.

Mix again until homogeneous dough.

Make sure you don't whisk excessively not to develop the gluten too much. As soon as all the dry elements are incorporated, the dough is ready.

Dust the work surface with a little flour and roll out the dough with a rolling pin...

...to an even thickness of 3mm.

Place a tart ring Ø 22cm on the dough and cut a disc using a knife, following the inside of the stainless steel ring.

Place this dough disc on a baking sheet lined with a sheet of greaseproof paper. You can place the dough in the fridge to make it easier to handle and to prevent it from tearing.

Reposition the tart ring over the dough disc. It is not necessary to grease the inside of the ring.

Cut strips from the remaining dough, which you can refrigerate until firm. These dough strips should be 2 to 2.5 cm wide.

Moisten the edge of the dough disc with a pastry brush and a little cold water, and apply these dough strips to the inner walls of the stainless steel ring, ensuring that the horizontal part and the vertical part of the dough are in contact for a good seal during baking.

Proceed this way all around the ring. The dough must be pressed flat vertically against the stainless steel ring.

Remove the excess dough by sliding the knife blade over the rim of the ring, cutting from the inside out. Refrigerate.

Almond cream: Prepare all the ingredients.

Place the softened butter and the caster sugar in the mixer bowl.

Mix these two elements with the paddle attachment.

Add the almond powder. Here I am using whole almond powder, but it is possible to make this cream with blanched almond powder.

Mix to incorporate the almond powder, then add the eggs one by one...

...and mix again until the preparation is homogeneous.

Add the heavy liquid cream...

...as well as the flour...

...and mix until smooth and homogeneous, as shown here in the photo.

Topping: Cut the fresh apricots in half and cut each half in two again. Place these apricot quarters on a baking sheet, curved side down. Sprinkle the apricots with a little brown sugar...

...as shown in the photo.

Also add a drizzle of honey.

Bake everything in a preheated convection oven at 170°C and cook for about 15 minutes, depending on the oven. The apricots should only be softened and not reduced to a compote.

Assembly: Transfer the almond cream into a piping bag. The use of a nozzle will not be necessary.

Take the tart shell out of the fridge. It must be very cold.

Pipe the almond cream in a spiral, starting from the centre outward, creating a ribbon about 1cm thick.

Smooth the surface using a mini cranked spatula to obtain an even thickness.

Bake in a preheated convection oven at 165/170°C and cook for 20 to 25 minutes. This baking time can vary from one oven to another. The dough must be baked and the almond cream golden on the surface.

When the apricots are cooked, we can see that the pieces are still whole but softened by the baking.

Remove the sheet from the oven and let the apricots cool at room temperature.

Halfway through baking the tart shell, remove the sheet from the oven...

...and remove the stainless steel ring by sliding it upward. The latter detaches all by itself from the dough without prior greasing. If any slight sticking is felt, pass the blade of a knife between the ring and the dough to ensure perfect unmoulding and prevent the dough from breaking.

Bake the tart shell again to finish cooking.

The tart is cooked when the almond cream is golden. Make sure not to overcook it, otherwise the cream will be dry during tasting. Leave to cool at room temperature.

Once the tart shell has cooled (do not handle while it is still hot), run the Classic Microplane zester-grater over the rim to obtain a fine and clean finish.

Repeat the operation on the vertical part of the tart shell to achieve a perfect finish.

When the apricots have cooled down, take them gently with the mini spatula and arrange them on the tart shell, directly touching the almond cream...

...overlapping them slightly, without following any particular direction and avoiding leaving empty spaces. To do this, the apricot pieces must be tightly packed together.

This is what the result should look like.

Finish: Apply a layer of neutral mirror glaze to the apricots using the pastry brush to protect them from oxidation and drying out. This will help preserve the shelf life of the tart.

The glaze can be warmed a little in the microwave (without adding water) to soften it.

Caramelized almonds: Pour the caster sugar into a saucepan...

...and heat it dry, without adding water.

The sugar will turn into syrup, and the syrup into caramel.

When the caramel is golden, add the whole raw almonds and mix continuously with a spatula to coat the almonds with caramel.

Once the almonds are well coated in caramel and the caramel has reached the right colour, transfer them onto a sheet of greaseproof paper. If the caramel is too dark, it will taste bitter.

Spread the caramelized almonds quickly before the caramel hardens.

Leave to cool at room temperature.

When the caramelized almonds have cooled, roughly chop a portion of them with a knife.

Arrange a few whole caramelized almonds on the surface of the tart...

...as well as some chopped caramelized almonds.

Our apricot and almond tart is now done. Keep in the fridge until ready to serve. Enjoy!