Apricot & ginger frangipane tart
If you can’t find fresh apricots use canned in natural juice.
■ Serves 6-8 ■ Prep 30 mins plus chilling and cooling ■ Cook 50 mins
FOR THE PASTRY
200g plain flour
100g cold butter, cubed
50g golden caster sugar few drops of vanilla extract
1 egg yolk
FOR THE FRANGIPANE
100g butter, softened
100g golden caster sugar
2 eggs
140g ground almonds
75g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
2 balls stem ginger in syrup, finely chopped, plus
3 tbsp of syrup
8-10 apricots, stoned and quartered
TO SERVE (OPTIONAL)
icing sugar, for dusting crème fraîche mixed with vanilla bean paste
1 First, make the pastry. Tip the flour, butter and a pinch of salt into a food processor and pulse until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and pulse again. Add the vanilla, egg and 1-2 tbsp ice-cold water, and pulse until the dough just comes together. Tip out and shape into a disc. Roll out on a lightly floured surface to line a 22cm loose-bottomed tart tin, pressing it into the side. Chill for 30 mins.
2 Meanwhile, prepare the frangipane.
Beat the butter until creamy with an electric whisk, then add the sugar and beat until fluffy. Add the eggs, beating well after each addition, then stir in the almonds, flour, ginger and 1 tbsp of the ginger syrup. 3 Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and put in a baking tray to heat. Spoon the frangipane into the tart case and smooth. Poke the apricots into the frangipane and bake on the heated tray for 40-50 mins until the fruit is tender and a skewer poked into the frangipane comes out clean.
4 Leave to cool in the tin for 10 mins, then turn out onto a wire rack. Heat the remaining ginger syrup in a pan until thickened, and glaze the tart with it.
Serve warm or cold, dusted with icing sugar. Add some crème fraîche mixed with vanilla bean paste, if you like.
PER SERVING (8) 539 kcals, fat 33g, saturates 15g, carbs 52g, sugars 27g, fibre 2g, protein 9g, salt 0.5g