Apricot Tart
Source: Orangette
Adapted from The Zuni Café Cookbook
Because this preparation is so simple, be sure to choose the very best apricots you can find. If you can, ask to taste them before you buy. There is little in this recipe to disguise their flaws, so if they are mealy, watery, tart, or otherwise lacking, this is not the best use for them.
This tart would also be delicious with Italian or French prune plums, those small, oblong, purple-skinned plums that come into season in late August and September. For those, you can use a little less sugar - about ¼ cup, rather than 1/3 cup.
For crust:
To prepare the crust:
In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine 4 Tbsp. ice water and the cider vinegar.
In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Pulse to blend. Add the butter, and pulse until the mixture resembles a coarse meal; there should be no pieces of butter bigger than a large pea. With the motor running, slowly add the water-vinegar mixture, processing just until moist clumps form. If you pick up a handful of the dough and squeeze it in your fist, it should hold together. If the dough seems a bit dry, add more ice water by the teaspoon, pulsing to incorporate. I sometimes find that 1 additional teaspoon is perfect.
Turn the dough out onto a wooden board or clean countertop, and gather it, massaging and pressing, until it just holds together. Shape it into a ball, and press it into a disk about 1 ½ inches thick. If the disk cracks a bit at the edges, don’t worry; just pinch the cracks together as well as you can. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and then press it a bit more, massaging away any cracks around the edges, allowing the constraint of the plastic wrap to help you form it into a smooth disk. Refrigerate the wrapped dough for at least 2 hours. (Dough can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 1 month. Thaw it in refrigerator overnight before using.) Before rolling it out, allow the dough to soften slightly at room temperature.
To assemble:
Set an oven rack to the middle position, and preheat the oven to 375°F.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a circle wide enough to fit a 9-inch removable-bottom tart pan. Transfer the dough gently into pan, and ease it into the corners and up the sides. Trim the edges to extend about ½ inch beyond the pan; then fold the overhang inward and press it against the side of the pan to reinforce the edge. Put the tart shell into the freezer while you prepare the fruit.
Cut the apricots in half, remove the pits, and then cut each half in half again. (In other words, the apricots should be quartered.) Put them in a wide bowl, and toss them gently with the sugar and salt. It might look like a lot of sugar, but don’t worry; it is balanced nicely by the salt and the acidity of the fruit. Remove the tart shell from the freezer and quickly arrange the fruit inside it, cut side up, in concentric circles. Scrape any sugar remaining in the bowl over the fruit.
Bake the tart until the crust is golden brown and the fruit is soft and relaxed, about 45 minutes or longer. It’s alright if some of the pieces of fruit are a little burnt (or, I suppose, caramelized) at their edges or tips. The sugar and juices from the fruit should form a loose glaze of sorts in the bottom of the shell and around the fruit, and as the tart cools, the glaze should thicken slightly.
Serve with crème fraîche or whipped cream.
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Notes: The crust is light and slightly flakey. Not the best I've made, I would try using a different crust recipe (simply recipes?). This is a super simple tart, just pie dough, fruit, and sugar. It's pretty good, but not amazing. The fruit turns a little jammy and the juices turn into a thin jelly like layer
Adapted from The Zuni Café Cookbook
Because this preparation is so simple, be sure to choose the very best apricots you can find. If you can, ask to taste them before you buy. There is little in this recipe to disguise their flaws, so if they are mealy, watery, tart, or otherwise lacking, this is not the best use for them.
This tart would also be delicious with Italian or French prune plums, those small, oblong, purple-skinned plums that come into season in late August and September. For those, you can use a little less sugar - about ¼ cup, rather than 1/3 cup.
For crust:
- 4 Tbsp. ice water, plus more as needed
- ¾ tsp. apple cider vinegar
- 1 ½ cups (192g) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp. (8g) sugar
- ¾ tsp. salt
- 9 Tbsp. (127.5g) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- About 1 lb. small, fragrant, firm-ripe apricots
- Heaping 1/3 cup sugar
- 3 pinches of salt (0.75g)
To prepare the crust:
In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine 4 Tbsp. ice water and the cider vinegar.
In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Pulse to blend. Add the butter, and pulse until the mixture resembles a coarse meal; there should be no pieces of butter bigger than a large pea. With the motor running, slowly add the water-vinegar mixture, processing just until moist clumps form. If you pick up a handful of the dough and squeeze it in your fist, it should hold together. If the dough seems a bit dry, add more ice water by the teaspoon, pulsing to incorporate. I sometimes find that 1 additional teaspoon is perfect.
Turn the dough out onto a wooden board or clean countertop, and gather it, massaging and pressing, until it just holds together. Shape it into a ball, and press it into a disk about 1 ½ inches thick. If the disk cracks a bit at the edges, don’t worry; just pinch the cracks together as well as you can. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and then press it a bit more, massaging away any cracks around the edges, allowing the constraint of the plastic wrap to help you form it into a smooth disk. Refrigerate the wrapped dough for at least 2 hours. (Dough can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 1 month. Thaw it in refrigerator overnight before using.) Before rolling it out, allow the dough to soften slightly at room temperature.
To assemble:
Set an oven rack to the middle position, and preheat the oven to 375°F.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a circle wide enough to fit a 9-inch removable-bottom tart pan. Transfer the dough gently into pan, and ease it into the corners and up the sides. Trim the edges to extend about ½ inch beyond the pan; then fold the overhang inward and press it against the side of the pan to reinforce the edge. Put the tart shell into the freezer while you prepare the fruit.
Cut the apricots in half, remove the pits, and then cut each half in half again. (In other words, the apricots should be quartered.) Put them in a wide bowl, and toss them gently with the sugar and salt. It might look like a lot of sugar, but don’t worry; it is balanced nicely by the salt and the acidity of the fruit. Remove the tart shell from the freezer and quickly arrange the fruit inside it, cut side up, in concentric circles. Scrape any sugar remaining in the bowl over the fruit.
Bake the tart until the crust is golden brown and the fruit is soft and relaxed, about 45 minutes or longer. It’s alright if some of the pieces of fruit are a little burnt (or, I suppose, caramelized) at their edges or tips. The sugar and juices from the fruit should form a loose glaze of sorts in the bottom of the shell and around the fruit, and as the tart cools, the glaze should thicken slightly.
Serve with crème fraîche or whipped cream.
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Notes: The crust is light and slightly flakey. Not the best I've made, I would try using a different crust recipe (simply recipes?). This is a super simple tart, just pie dough, fruit, and sugar. It's pretty good, but not amazing. The fruit turns a little jammy and the juices turn into a thin jelly like layer