Growing up, my family would frequently spend long weekends in upstate New York, where our close friends have a house. On nearly every visit, we would stop by Bread Alone Bakery in Boiceville to get freshly baked bread and a nice dessert. Our all-time favorite pastry of theirs was the apricot tart. Since they no longer make this tart, I decided to try to recreate those nostalgic summer flavors.
This apricot frangipane tart recipe has a creamy almond filling, is speckled with caramelized apricots and topped with toasted pistachios for added crunch and visual interest. The key to success for an apricot tart is ensuring the tips of the apricots get lightly browned and caramelized in the oven. Once baked, apricots become a bit more sour, which pairs beautifully with the sweet almond filling.
While frangipane has a fancy-sounding name, this almond filling is actually very easy to make and comes together quickly. For the frangipane filling, I adapted a recipe from the New York Times. This tart keeps well and since it doesn’t contain a chilled filling or pastry cream, is perfect to bring to outdoor summer events!
Apricot Frangipane Tart
Cuisine: Pies and tartsDifficulty: Baking session8
servings45
minutes1
hourThis apricot frangipane tart inspired by Bread Alone bakery has a creamy almond filling, is speckled with caramelized apricots and topped with toasted pistachios for added crunch and visual interest. A little dusting of confectioners’ sugar before baking helps ensure caramelized edges on the apricots.
Ingredients
- For the crust
1 1/4 cups (150g) all-purpose flour
1/3 cup (66g) granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
8 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1 egg yolk
2 Tbsp ice water
1 tsp vanilla extract
- For the frangipane
112g almond meal/almond flour
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp
2 eggs, room temperature
1/2 tsp almond extract
- For the topping
5-7 small ripe apricots or 3-4 large apricots
1 Tbsp pistachios, toasted and coarsely chopped (optional)
1 Tbsp apricot jam
Instructions
- Make the crust
- In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar and salt.
- In a small bowl or ramekin, mix together the egg yolk, ice water, and vanilla, and set aside.
- Add the cubed stick of butter to the flour mixture and using a pastry blender, mashing with a fork, or working quickly using your fingertips, blend the butter into the flour until the butter pieces are about the size of a pea.
- Using your hands, press the dough together into a ball and then pat it down into a disk. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes, or a bit longer if you’re finding the dough is too sticky to work with.
- Generously flour your work surface and roll the disk until it is thin, about 1/8″ thick and larger than the size of your 8″ tart pan.
- Lightly fold the dough in half and transfer into the tart pan. Unfold and press the dough into the bottom and along the sides of the pan. Run a rolling pin over the top of the sides to remove excess dough.
- Freeze the crust for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375F. Remove the crust from the freezer, prick it with a fork, and line the bottom with foil or parchment paper and cover with baking weights (I use old dry rice and beans for my baking weights).
- Bake the tart shell until the bottom appears set and is lightly golden, about 20-30 minutes. Remove crust from the oven and take out the pie weights and tin foil.
- Prepare the frangipane
- Using an electric mixer, beat together the almond meal, flour, sugar and butter. Once fully mixed and smooth, beat in the eggs and almond extract until the mixture is creamy.
- Pour filling into the pre-baked tart shell.
- If using small apricots, wash and quarter them. For large apricots, you can cut them into wedges. Lightly top the tart with the apricots, having them stand straight up rather than lying flat. The filling will rise up so the apricots might be covered if not standing upright in the mixture. Create tightly packed concentric circles, as the apricots will shrink.
- Sprinkle the apricot slices with some confectioners sugar. You can use a spoon or a sieve to lightly dust the tops.
- Bake at 375F for 35 to 45 minutes until the filling is nicely golden and the apricots are caramelized at the tips. If you’re finding the apricots are too pale, move the tart to the upper portion of the oven for the last few minutes or turn on the broiler at the very end. If the crust is getting too dark, you can cover it with aluminum foil.
- Remove from the oven and let cool. Lightly heat apricot preserves the microwave and run through a strainer. Brush the preserves over the tart, giving everything a nice shine. Sprinkle toasted pistachios on top.
Notes
- If you don’t have almond meal, you can use whole almonds and grind them in a food processor to make your own.
- The tart crust can be made a day in advance and left out at room temperature.
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