Amaretto Chocolate Tart With Apricot Cream Recipes

APRICOT CREAM TART

Steps:

• Make dough:
• Pulse almonds, flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor until almonds are very finely chopped. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal with some small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps. Add yolk and extracts and pulse just until mixture begins to clump.
• Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 4 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice with a forward motion to distribute fat. Gather dough together into a ball with scraper and transfer to tart pan. Pat dough with floured fingers into tart pan in an even 1/4-inch-thick layer, including side (side should be flush with top of rim). Chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Make filling while dough chills:
• Toss apricots with Amaretto and 1/4 cup sugar, then let macerate until juicy, at least 1 hour.
• Whisk together preserves, whole egg, yolk, cream, almond extract, a pinch of salt, and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in another bowl until combined. Chill, covered, until ready to use.
• Bake tart shell:
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F.
• Line tart shell with foil and fill with pie weights. Bake until side is set and edge is pale golden, 18 to 20 minutes. Carefully remove foil and weights and bake shell until bottom is pale golden, 5 to 7 minutes more. Cool completely in pan on a rack, about 15 minutes.
• Fill and bake tart:
• Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.
• Lift apricots from liquid with a slotted spoon and arrange, skin sides down, in tart shell. Whisk remaining apricot liquid into egg mixture, then pour over apricots(fruit will poke through filling). Cover edge of tart shell with a pie shield or foil and bake tart until filling is set and slightly puffed, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool tart completely in pan on rack.

CHOCOLATE APRICOT TART

Steps:

• For the crust: Combine the flour, almonds, sugar and salt in a food processor and blend until the nuts are finely ground. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Pour in the vodka and 1 tablespoon water and pulse until the dough just comes together in a soft dough. Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap, press it into a disc and refrigerate until slightly firm, about 20 minutes.
• Turn the dough out into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Top with a piece of plastic wrap and press the dough out evenly through the plastic wrap on the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Pierce the dough lightly with a fork, and then line the crust with parchment or foil and fill with pie weights, beans or rice. Bake until the crust sets, about 20 minutes. Remove the parchment and beans and then return to the oven until the crust turns a rich golden brown, about 15 minutes longer. Let cool.
• For the apricot and chocolate filling: Combine the apricots, brandy and 1/4 cup water in a microwave-safe bowl. Cover and microwave for 2 minutes, and then set aside to plump.
• 5. Put the chocolates in a medium bowl. Heat the half-and-half in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk together the eggs and sugar in a separate medium bowl, and then gradually whisk in the heated cream. Pour back into the pan and cook, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula, over medium-low heat until thick, about 1 minute. Pour the mixture over the chocolate, let set for 5 minutes, and then whisk in the butter until very smooth.
• Blend the apricots and their liquid with the vanilla in a mini food processor until very smooth. Spread 3/4 cup of the mixture over the bottom of the crust. Top with the chocolate mixture. Cover loosely and refrigerate until set, about 3 hours or up to overnight.
• Meanwhile, whip the cream until it barely holds soft peaks. Whisk in the remaining apricot mixture to make a smooth thick cream. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. To serve, pipe or spoon small dollops of the cream around the edge of the crust.

APRICOT JALOUSIE TART WITH AMARETTO CREAM

Steps:

• Amaretto Cream:.
• Whisk yolks and sugar in bowl to blend. Pour cream into heavy medium saucepan. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into cream; add bean. Bring to boil. Gradually whisk hot cream into yolk mixture. Return to saucepan; stir over low heat until mixture thickens and leaves path on back of spoon when finger is drawn across, about 4 minutes; do not boil. Remove from heat; stir in amaretto. Transfer to bowl. Press plastic wrap directly onto surface of cream to prevent skin from forming. Chill until cold. (Can be made 4 days ahead. Keep chilled.) Remove vanilla bean.
• Tart:.
• Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add apricots and 1/4 cup sugar. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Cook until apricots are tender, fall apart and form thick puree, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes for canned apricots and 30 minutes for fresh. Cool. Remove vanilla bean. Sweeten mixture with more sugar, if desired.
• Preheat oven to 425°F Roll out pastry on floured surface to 12x16-inch rectangle. Cut in half lengthwise, forming two 6x16-inch rectangles. Place 1 rectangle in center of baking sheet. Spread apricots evenly over pastry, leaving 3/4-inch bortder on all sides. Brush border with egg glaze. Place second rectangle atop filling. Press edges firmly to seal. Brush with glaze. To form rim, fold up 1/2 inch of edge all around; press to seal. Brush top with glaze; sprinkle with sugar. Using small sharp knife, make diagonal cuts 2 inches apart across tart, cutting just to filling. Bake until golden about 25 minutes. Cool. Serve with amaretto cream.