Apricot Almond Gratins Recipes

ALMOND APRICOT TART

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• To make the frangipane, place the almonds and the sugar in a food processor and grind until sandy. Add the butter and continue mixing then add the egg, vanilla, and the flour and mix until smooth.
• To make the tart, on a floured work surface pass your rolling pin over the pastry just to flatten any ridges.
• Place it on a parchment paper lined sheet pan and cut out a 9-inch disk. Spread the almond frangipane in the center of the tart leaving a 1-inch border. Firmly place the apricot halves into the frangipane spacing them evenly around the tart. Dot the spaces between the apricots with the whole almonds.
• Bake until golden brown on the top and puffy, about 30 to 40 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.

APRICOT-ALMOND TARTLETS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine flour and confectioners' sugar; cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add egg yolk and water; stir until dough forms a ball. Roll into twenty-four 1-in. balls. Press onto the bottoms and up the sides of greased miniature muffin cups., In a small bowl, beat almond paste and butter until blended; beat in egg white and almond extract. Spoon into tart shells, about 2 teaspoons in each., Bake at 350° until golden brown, 20-25 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Top with apricot preserves.

APRICOT GRATIN WITH ALMONDS AND KIRSCH

Steps:

• The day before, combine the sugar, honey, vanilla bean and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
• Place the whole apricots in a large saucepan. Pour the boiling syrup over them and bring back to a boil over medium-high heat. Remove from the heat; the apricots should be completely submerged in the syrup. If not, they will discolor. If necessary, invert a saucer over the top of the fruit to keep it submerged. Cover the saucepan and let stand for 24 hours. During this overnight marinating, the pits will impart an almond flavor to the apricots and their syrup.
• Drain the fruit, reserving the syrup and being careful not to crush the apricots. Halve the apricots. Remove and discard the pits. Place four or five apricot halves in the bottom of six gratin dishes that are four-inches in diameter, arranging the fruit just to cover the bottom of the dishes.
• Place the remaining apricots in a food processor or food mill with a little of the syrup and process to a thick puree. Set aside.
• To make the topping, combine one-half cup of the powdered sugar, the ground almonds, butter, egg yolks and whole egg in a mixing bowl and whisk until thoroughly blended.
• Divide the batter among the six gratin dishes, spreading it evenly over the top of the apricots. (If the batter is too thick, heat it slightly to soften.) Sprinkle the top of the batter with slivered almonds. Sprinkle the remaining one-fourth cup of powdered sugar over the top of the gratin dishes with a sugar sifter or fine sieve.
• Forty-five minutes before serving, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Twenty minutes later, place the gratins in the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned on top.
• Just before serving, place the apricot puree in a small saucepan and warm over low heat. Add the apricot brandy or kirsch and pour the sauce into a warm sauce boat.
• Serve the gratins on dessert plates lined with paper doilies or folded linen napkins. Pass the apricot topping separately.

MOROCCAN LAMB WITH APRICOTS, ALMONDS & MINT

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole. Add the lamb and cook over a medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes until evenly browned, stirring often. Remove the lamb to a plate, using a slotted spoon.
• Stir the onion and garlic into the casserole and cook gently for 5 minutes until softened. Return the lamb to the pot. Add the stock, zest and juice, cinnamon, honey and salt and pepper. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat, cover and cook gently for 1 hour.
• Add the apricots and two-thirds of the mint and cook for 30 minutes until the lamb is tender. Stir in the ground almonds to thicken the sauce. Serve with the remaining mint and toasted almonds scattered over the top.

APRICOT ALMOND BLONDIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in chips, almonds and apricots., Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 7-9 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.

APRICOT-ALMOND GRATINS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F. Butter gratin dishes and put in a shallow baking pan.
• Soak apricots in brandy 10 minutes, then drain, reserving brandy.
• Reserve 2 tablespoons almonds. Pulse remaining almonds, granulated sugar, flour, and salt in a food processor until almonds are finely chopped. Add eggs and cream and pulse until smooth. Stir reserved brandy into almond cream.
• Pour almond cream into gratin dishes and sprinkle with apricots and reserved almonds.
• Bake gratins in middle of oven until puffed and golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Dust with confectioners sugar.