Hazelnut Frangipane Tart With Apricots And Softly Whipped Creme Fraiche Recipes

HAZELNUT FRANGIPANE TART WITH APRICOTS AND SOFTLY WHIPPED CREME FRAICHE

Steps:

• Cut dough into a 6-inch round piece (reserve remaining dough for another use), and press into a 9-inch round tart pan with removable bottom, making dough about 1/4 inch thick. Patch with pieces of dough if necessary. Refrigerate for 10 minutes. Trim dough flush with rim, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line tart shell with parchment, and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until edges are golden, about 20 minutes. Rotate tart shell, and remove parchment and weights. Cover edges with a strip of foil. Bake until bottom is crisp and lightly golden, 10 to 15 minutes more. Let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees.
• Pulse 1/3 cup hazelnuts in a food processor until finely ground. Stir together ground hazelnuts, flour, and salt.
• Beat butter and granulated sugar until pale and creamy. Beat in egg. Add hazelnut mixture, and beat until just combined. (Frangipane can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 1 week.)
• Spoon frangipane into cooled tart shell, and smooth with a spatula. Let stand for 10 minutes. Bake until set, about 15 minutes. Let cool.
• Prepare an ice-water bath. Bring a pan of water to a boil. Lightly score bottoms of apricots. Add apricots to boiling water, and blanch to loosen skins, about 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to ice-water bath to stop the cooking, about 1 minute. Remove apricots, and gently peel. Cut in half, and remove pits.
• Just before serving, beat cream with confectioners' sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form; whisk in creme fraiche. Spread over frangipane. Arrange 7 apricot halves, cut side down, around edge. Cut remaining apricot half into thirds and arrange in center.
• Melt jam in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in lemon juice, and set aside to cool for 5 or 10 minutes. Pour through a sieve; discard solids. Brush strained jam over apricots, and spoon remaining glaze over cream. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons hazelnuts around apricots. Serve immediately.

APRICOT-HAZELNUT FRANGIPANE TART

Steps:

• Make the poached apricots: Combine wine, 3 cups water, sugar, vanilla pod and seeds, and cinnamon stick in a large straight-sided skillet. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add apricots, cut-side down. Cover surface with a parchment round, and cook, simmering, until apricots are just tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer poached apricots to a small rimmed baking sheet or plate.
• Bring poaching liquid to a boil and cook until reduced to about 3/4 cup, about 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees with rack in lower third of oven. Make the frangipane: Combine hazelnuts and sugar in bowl of food processor and process until finely ground. Add butter, flour, egg, liqueur, salt, and vanilla extract; process until frangipane is smooth.
• Prepare the tart shell: Unfold puff pastry on parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Using a paring knife, lightly score a border about 1 1/2-inches in from perimeter of pastry.
• Using tines of a fork, pierce puff pastry all over within border. Spread frangipane in an even layer within border. Arrange poached apricots on top of frangipane, cut-side down; brush lightly with poaching liquid. Combine egg and cream, then brush lightly onto puff pastry border.
• Bake until tart is puffed and golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and brush apricots lightly with more poaching liquid. Let cool completely.

HAZELNUT FRANGIPANE TART WITH APRICOTS

Steps:

• Press dough into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch round tart pan with removable bottom, about 1/4 inch thick. Patch, if necessary. Trim excess dough flush with rim. Refrigerate or freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Line shell with parchment, and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until edges are golden, about 20 minutes. Rotate shell, and remove parchment and weights. Bake until bottom is crisp and lightly golden, 10 to 15 minutes more. Let cool on a wire rack 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 325°F.
• Pulse 1/3 cup hazelnuts in a food processor until finely ground. Stir together ground hazelnuts, flour, and salt. With an electric mixer, beat butter and granulated sugar until pale and creamy, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in egg. Add hazelnut mixture, and beat until just combined. Frangipane can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 1 week.
• Spoon frangipane into tart shell, and smooth with an offset spatula. Let stand 10 minutes. Bake until set, about 15 minutes. If edges brown too quickly, cover with a foil ring (see page 324). Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.
• Peel apricots (see page 343); cut in half, and remove pits. Just before serving, beat cream with confectioners' sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form; whisk in crème fraîche. Spread over frangipane. Arrange 7 apricot halves, cut side down, around edge. Cut remaining apricot half into thirds and arrange in center.
• Heat jam in a saucepan over medium-low until loose. Stir in lemon juice, and let cool for 5 or 10 minutes. Strain through a sieve; discard solids. Brush strained jam over apricots, and spoon remaining glaze over cream. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons hazelnuts around apricots. Serve immediately.

FRESH APRICOT TART

Steps:

• To make the crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in center. Brush a 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.

PEAR AND HAZELNUT FRANGIPANE TART

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Pulse hazelnuts with 1/4 cup sugar in a food processor until finely ground, then add flour and pulse to combine.
• Beat together butter and remaining 1/4 cup sugar with an electric mixer at moderately high speed until pale and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in extracts. Reduce speed to low and mix in nut mixture until just combined.
• Spread frangipane filling evenly in tart shell. Peel, halve, and core pears, then cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices, holding slices together to keep pear shape intact. Arrange pears decoratively on filling, fanning slices slightly. Bake until pears are golden and frangipane is puffed and golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Brush pears (not filling) with preserves and cool tart completely in pan on rack, then remove side of pan.

FRESH FRUIT FRANGIPANE TART

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Place 1 piece of puff pastry on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Lightly moisten one of the short edges with water. Connect the end of the other puff pastry to the moistened edge. Press pieces together to form a long rectangle, trimming off loose ends with a dough scraper as needed.
• Cut the third puff pastry piece lengthwise into 1-inch strips. Moisten the outer edges of the long rectangle with your finger; stick the pastry strips on top. Poke shallow holes all over the bottom of the dough using a fork. Do not prick the raised border.
• Bake pastry shell in the preheated oven until it starts to turn golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Readjust the borders and push the bottom down with the flat side of a fork. Let cool completely while preparing the filling.
• Place butter and 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar in a bowl; smear together using a spatula until combined. Whisk in egg until mixture is creamy. Add almond flour, salt, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Mix thoroughly. Cut each pluot into 6 wedges. Fill pastry shell with the almond paste. Stick the pluots snugly, but not too deeply, into the filling.
• Bake in the preheated oven until browned and almond filling is set, 30 to 40 minutes. Transfer tart onto a wire rack and let cool completely, at least 40 minutes.
• Combine apricot jam and water in a microwave-safe bowl. Bring to a boil in the microwave. Let cool until warm. Brush glaze over the cooled tart.

LINZERTORTE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread hazelnuts in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet; toast, stirring occasionally, until skins begin to split, about 15 minutes. Immediately rub hazelnuts vigorously in a clean kitchen towel to remove skins (as much as will come off easily). Let cool.
• In a food processor, pulse hazelnuts and almonds until finely ground. (Be careful not to overprocess; you don't want the mixture to become a paste.) In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and nut mixture; set aside.
• In bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg yolk and beat 1 minute to combine. With mixer on low speed, add ground nuts and flour mixture all at once.
• Divide dough in half. Set a 10-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Using your fingers, press 1 dough half into tart pan. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, roll remaining dough half between 2 sheets of parchment paper lightly dusted with flour to a 12-inch round; place on a baking sheet and chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Using an offset spatula, spread jam evenly over chilled dough in tart pan; set aside. Using a fluted pastry wheel, cut 3/4-inch-wide strips from chilled round of dough. Arrange strips on top of jam in a lattice pattern. Freeze until firm, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until torte is golden brown all over, about 40 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool 20 minutes. Remove ring and cool torte completely. Torte can be kept at room temperature, loosely covered in plastic wrap, for up to 3 days. When ready to serve, dust with confectioners' sugar, if using.