Fresh Apricot Tart With Prunes Recipes

APPLE, APRICOT, AND PRUNE TART

Steps:

• Make pastry dough:
• Into a chilled large metal bowl sift together flour and salt. Set a grater in bowl and using largest teardrop-shaped holes coarsely grate frozen butter into flour, gently lifting and tossing flour to coat butter. Chill mixture 20 minutes. Drizzle 8 tablespoons ice water evenly over mixture and gently stir with a fork until just incorporated. Test mixture by gently squeezing a small handful: When it has proper texture it should hold together without crumbling apart. If necessary, add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring until just incorporated, and test mixture again. (If you overwork or add too much water, pastry will be tough.)
• Turn mixture out onto a lightly floured surface and with floured hands mound into 4 portions. With heel of hand smear each portion once in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather dough portions together and form it, rotating it on work surface, into a disk (dough will not be smooth). Chill dough, wrapped in plastic wrap, at least 2 hours, or until firm, and up to 2 days.
• On floured surface with a floured rolling pin roll out dough 1/4 inch thick (about a 15-inch round). Fit dough into a 12 1/2- by 1-inch fluted round tart pan with a removable bottom and with a rolling pin roll over top of shell to trim pastry flush with rim. With a fork prick bottom of shell all over. Chill shell 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 425° F.
• Line shell with foil and fill with pie weights or raw rice. Bake shell in middle of oven 20 minutes. Carefully remove weights or rice and foil and bake shell until golden, about 10 minutes more. Cool shell in pan on a rack.
• Make filling
• Peel, core, and chop 1 apple. In a saucepan cook chopped apple, apricots, 1/2 cup sugar, and water, covered, over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until fruit is tender, about 12 minutes. Cool mixture 20 minutes. In a food processor pulse mixture until smooth and transfer to a small bowl. Chop prunes and stir into purée. Peel remaining 4 apples and quarter. Core apples and cut lengthwise into 1/8-inch-thick slices.
• Spoon apricot purée evenly into shell and smooth top. Decoratively arrange apple slices, overlapping them, over purée and sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar.
• Bake tart in middle of oven until apple slices are slightly browned and crust is golden brown, about 45 minutes. Cool tart slightly in pan on rack. In a small saucepan melt jam over low heat and pour through a fine sieve into a small bowl. Press hard on solids and discard. With a pastry brush, brush glaze evenly over tart.
• Serve tart with crème fraîche or whipped cream.

FRESH APRICOT TART

Steps:

• To make the crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.with rack in center. Brush and 8-by-11-inch tart pan with removable bottom with butter.
• Place the almonds and 1 tablespoon sugar in the bowl of a food processor, and pulse until the almonds are finely ground. Add the butter, and process until combined. Pulse in the flour, the remaining 1 tablespoon plus 1/4 teaspoon sugar, and the almond extract until combined.
• Transfer the crumbly dough to the prepared pan. Using your fingers, pat out dough evenly to make a thin crust along the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Chill the crust 30 minutes.
• Bake crust until golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
• To make the filling and assemble the tart: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread the almond slices in a single layer in a rimmed baking sheet; toast in oven until golden, about 10 minutes. Shake the pan halfway through baking to make sure the nuts toast evenly. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar, salt, all-purpose flour, almond flour, and baking powder; whisk together. Whisk in the eggs, melted butter, and half-and-half until well combined. Pour the filling into the baked crust.
• Arrange the apricot halves, cut-sides up, on top of the filling, packing the fruit closely together. Sprinkle the tops of the apricots with the remaining 1 tablespoon granulated sugar. Sprinkle the toasted almonds over the entire tart.
• Bake the tart until the filling is puffed and golden brown, 60 to 70 minutes, rotating the pan after 30 minutes for even browning. Transfer tart to a wire rack to cool. Unmold, and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar just before serving.

FRESH APRICOT TART WITH PRUNES

Steps:

• Quarter the prunes, place them in a small saucepan with the nectar and liqueur, and simmer 10 minutes to soften them. Set them aside to cool.
• Mix the flour, granulated sugar and salt together in a bowl. Add all but one tablespoon of the butter and, using your fingertips or two knives, break the butter up into the flour mixture until the mixture has a coarse, mealy texture. This can be done by pulsing in a food processor. Sprinkle the ice water over the flour and butter mixture and, using a fork, lightly mix until the ingredients begin to cling together and can be formed into a dough. If you mixed the butter and flour together in a food processor, transfer them to a bowl to mix in the water by hand.
• Form the dough into a flattened ball and place it in the freezer for 10 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Roll out the dough between sheets of waxed paper to form a circle 12 inches in diameter. Peel off one sheet of the waxed paper and place the dough, with the remaining sheet of paper on top, in a nine-inch tart pan. Peel off the top sheet of waxed paper and fit the dough into the pan. Trim the edges. Cover the pastry with a sheet of foil, weight it with pastry weights or dry beans and bake it for 10 minutes, until it looks dry. Remove it from the oven and remove the foil and weights.
• Pit and quarter the apricots, mix brown sugar and cinnamon together.
• Mix the prunes with a tablespoon of the brown sugar and spread them over the bottom of the pastry in the pan. Arrange the quartered apricots in a pattern over the prunes. Sprinkle the apricots with the remaining brown sugar and dot with bits of the remaining tablespoon of butter.
• Place in the oven and bake about 30 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown and the apricots begin to brown around the edges. Allow to cool to room temperature before serving.