Apricot Hazelnut Custard Tart Food

APRICOT CUSTARD TART

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325-degrees F.
• Place baked tart shell on baking sheet. Set aside.
• Cut apricots into wedges and arrange in tart shell.
• In a bowl whisk together sugar, yolks and cream.
• Stir in flour and salt. Stir to combine.
• Pour cream/yolk mixture over apricots.
• Sprinkle almonds over all.
• Bake for 35-40 minutes or until custard is set.

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.

HAZELNUT FRANGIPANE TART WITH APRICOT

Steps:

• PÂTE SABLÉE: With a standing mixer on medium speed, beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low. Add flour and salt, and beat until just combined and crumbly (do not over mix). Shape dough into a 9-inch round disk, and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes (or up to 2 days), or freeze for up to 1 month. Makes 1 x 9-inch tart shell.
• Cut dough into a 6-inch round piece (reserve remaining dough for another use), and press into a 9-inch round tart pan with removeable bottom, making dough abou 1/4 i-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°F 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, 10-15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.
• Pulse 1/3 cup hazelnuts in a food processor until finely ground. Stir together ground hazelnuts, flour and salt.
• Beat butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Beat in egg. Add hazelnut mixture, and beat until just combined (frangiapane 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 2 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, loosening skin, about 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to an ice-water bath to stop the cooking about 1 minute. Remove apricot, 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 crèeme fraîche. 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 10 minutes. Pour through a sieve; discard solids. Brush strained jam over apricots, and spoon remaining 2 tablespoons hazelnuts around apricots. Serve immediately.

HUNGARIAN HAZELNUT TORTE

Steps:

• For cake:
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour 9-inch-diameter springform pan. Line bottom with parchment paper. Blend first 4 ingredients in processor until nuts are ground as fine as flour.
• Using electric mixer, beat egg yolks, 1/3 cup sugar, and vanilla in large bowl until mixture falls in heavy ribbon when beaters are lifted, about 5 minutes. Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites in another large bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add 1/3 cup sugar, beating until stiff but not dry. Fold 1/4 of whites into yolk mixture to lighten. Fold in remaining whites. Sift half of flour mixture over; fold in gently. Sift remaining flour mixture over and fold in, adding any nuts from sifter. Drizzle butter over batter, folding in gently (do not overmix or batter will deflate).
• Transfer batter to prepared pan; bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Transfer pan to rack; cool cake 10 minutes. Cut around pan sides to loosen cake; release pan sides. Invert cake onto rack. Remove pan bottom and parchment paper. Cool.
• For buttercream:
• Place cornstarch in heavy small saucepan. Gradually add milk, stirring until cornstarch dissolves. Whisk in egg yolks. Whisk constantly over medium-high heat until custard comes to boil and thickens, about 3 minutes. Transfer to large bowl. Press plastic wrap onto surface of custard. Chill 30 minutes.
• Finely grind 1 cup nuts with powdered sugar in processor, about 30 seconds. Using electric mixer, beat vanilla into custard. Beat in butter, 1 piece at a time, then beat in ground nut mixture in 4 additions. Refrigerate until firm enough to spread, stirring often, about 30 minutes.
• Stir apricot preserves in small saucepan over medium heat for 1 minute. Push preserves, including fruit pieces, through strainer into small bowl. Cool.
• Finely chop 1/2 cup hazelnuts. Using long serrated knife, cut cake horizontally in half. Place 1 layer, cut side up, on 8-inch-diameter tart pan bottom or cardboard round. Spread evenly with apricot preserves. Top with second layer, cut side down. Transfer 3/4 cup buttercream to pastry bag fitted with large star tip. Spread remaining buttercream over top and sides of cake. Press 1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts onto sides of cake.
• Pipe 12 rosettes around top edge of torte. Place 1 hazelnut and 1 apricot sliver into each rosette. Refrigerate until buttercream sets, at least 1 hour. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome; keep chilled. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before serving.)

BARTLETT PEAR TART

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425. Using your favorite pastry recipe for 9 inch pie or one that has been commercially prepared, line a 10 inch tart pan with pie crust, molding to sides of pan. Prick bottom and sides with a fork and bake in preheated oven for 10 - 12 minutes.
• Prepare poached pears: Place pears, wine, sugar, and cloves in a large skillet. Bring to boil, then simmer pears uncovered until they are crisp - tender. Depending on the ripeness of your pears, this can take 10 - 15 minutes, or even up to 45 minutes. Remove the pears with a slotted spoon and continue to reduce the poaching liquid to 1/3 cup, creating a thick syrup. Discard the cloves. Bosc pears would probably work nicely, too. But the D'Anjou pear supposedly is not the best pear to cook with, even though it is delicious on its own.
• Prepare custard: Simmer Half & Half in a small sauce pan. In a bowl, whisk together egg yolks, flour, and brown sugar until smooth. Temper the egg yolk mixture by pouring some of the simmering Half & Half into it, then whisk mixture back into simmering cream. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to simmer and continue stirring constantly until custard is thick and smooth, a few minutes more. Pour hot custard into a clean bowl, and whisk in the almond extract, butter, and the syrup that was created from the reduced poaching liquid.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spread the custard evenly in the partially baked crust. Using a large kitchen knife, slice pear halves thinly, about 1/8 inch, and carefully fan out, keeping shape of pear intact. Using the knife, scoop fanned-out pear half up and gently slide onto custard, keeping the shape intact. (Chef Sarah uses a method of slicing the pear half ALMOST to the bottom, but leaving it intact, transferring it to the custard and then fanning the pear out. But this didn't work for me.) Repeat until the crust is filled with thinly sliced pears. If your pears are smaller, you will need to place a pear half in the center.
• Bake for 30 - 40 minutes until custard is set and lightly browned.
• Melt a pat of butter in a small skillet and toast sliced almonds lightly. Brush the warm tart with the melted apricot preserves to glaze, then sprinkle with toasted almonds. In the original recipe, the tart is topped with toasted chopped hazelnuts -- probably a better choice if using the hazelnut crust. Serve tart warm or at room temperature, topped with whipped cream.
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• If you would like to prepare the hazelnut crust used in the original recipe: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Combine 1 cup of lightly toasted and skinned hazelnuts, 1/4 cup of sugar, 1 1/4 cups of four, 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon and pinch of salt in a food processor and mix thoroughly. Add 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter and 1 large egg yolk and process until the dough forms a ball. Press the dough over the bottom and up side of fluted tart pan. Place shell in freezer for 15 minutes. Prick the chilled tart shell on the bottom with a fork in several places. Bake 12 - 15 minutes until just lightly browned. Remove from oven and set aside to cool. Proceed with recipe as above. If using the hazelnut crust, then top finished glazed tart with additional chopped hazelnuts.