luscious organic apricots from California courtesy Frog Hollow Farm and Eataly
Today’s post is a follow up to yesterday’s – where I was waxing poetic about the virtues of fresh apricots……..
Sometimes a dessert has to come together in distinct recipe pieces. You’re in experimental mode and you’re working on instinct. You pick what your palate calls you to. While the combination of apricots and frangipane (French Almond Cream) is not original – in fact it is quite common, I decided to pull the individual segments of this recipe from three different sources.
I began with the organic Apricots I bought yesterday at Eataly that were sourced from Frog Hollow Farm. The crust comes from one of my favorite books, La Dolce Vita by Ursula Ferrigno (see photo below). The French Almond Cream recipe comes courtesy www.letthebakingbeginblog.com and is linked below. And, the apricot syrup is my own simple concoction.
Here’s what happened.
lovely little babies in a scant bath of lemon juice, sugar and Amaretto
I love this shot – it looks like cresting waves of apricots on a sea of frangipane – who could ask for anything more?
THE APRICOT TART WITH FRENCH ALMOND CREAM AND ALMOND CRUST – recipe makes 2 9″ tarts
for the crust: the crust recipe can be found here: https://kitchen-inspirational.com/2014/03/07/swirling-curds-coulis/ recipe courtesy La Dolce Vita by Ursula Ferrigno page 50 Make recipe as directed in this post. Bake and cool.
The French Almond Cream recipe is as follows: (recipe courtesy http://letthebakingbeginblog.com/2014/11/french-almond-cream-crme-damandes-why-you-should-know-how-to-make-it/)
9 tblsp unsalted butter at room temp
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temp
3/4 cup ground blanched almonds
2 tblsp all purpose flour
1 tblsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
Add all ingredients into the bowl of your stand mixer. Blend on low. Mix on medium speed until smooth. Turn mixer on high and beat until soft and creamy – 1 minute. Set aside.
Filling:
about 2 dozen small apricots, unpeeled, quartered and pits removed
2 tblsp fresh lemon juice
1 tblsp granulated sugar
splash of Amaretto
Rinse the apricots and set upon a paper towel to drain. Cut into quarters lengthwise and remove pits. Place in a large bowl. Sprinkle with the lemon juice, sugar and Amaretto. Toss to coat. Set aside.
Assembly: Preheat oven to 400F.
Make the crust and cool. Mine made 2 9″ crusts. Spoon half of the almond cream into each cooled crust. Arrange the apricots in concentric circles. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the almond cream is nicely browned and puffed. Remove from oven and cool completely. Brush with melted apricot jam with a little water to glaze if desired. Serve with a dollop of creme fraiche, best quality vanilla bean ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream beaten with a splash of amaretto.
lots of great recipes here!