Apricot Pistachio Pavlova Food

APRICOT & PISTACHIO PAVLOVA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to fan 120C / conventional 140C / gas 1.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and draw a circle (diameter = 23cm).
• Brush circle with a thin film of oil.
• In a small bowl, blend the cornflour, vanilla extract and vinegar to a smooth paste.
• In a separate clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff (you may add a pinch of salt to speed the process up).
• Gradually whisk in the sugar a little at a time.
• Then whisk in the cornflour paste until well combined.
• Spoon the mixture onto the parchment paper, then spread it onto the drawn circle.
• Swirl the edges with the back of the spoon to give lovely soft folds and peaks.
• Scatter half the pistachios over the meringue and bake for 1 hour, by which time it will feel crisp if you tap it.
• Turn off the oven, but leave the Pavlova inside to cool, with the oven door open.
• Set aside 450g (1lb) of the apricots and roughly chop the rest, discarding stones.
• Purée the chopped apricots, then push them through a sieve with a metal spoon.
• Stir in the liqueur and sweeten with 3tbsp icing sugar, or enough to sweeten as you like it.
• Lightly whip the cream so it's soft and billowy, then spoon over the the pavlova. Cut the reserved 450g (1lb) apricots in half, discard stones, then cut into wedges.
• Scatter over the whipped cream along with the remaining pistachios. Dust with remaining icing sugar and serve with the apricot purée.

APRICOT TART WITH PISTACHIOS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Lay 1 sheet phyllo on a parchment-lined 12-by-18-inch rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon butter and brush to coat the entire phyllo sheet.
• Top with another sheet and butter as above. Repeat with 7 more sheets, for a total of 9, buttering as you go. The final, top layer should also be buttered. (The rest of the phyllo can be wrapped and frozen for future use.)
• Dot the top sheet with jam by the teaspoon, then, using a spatula, spread the jam to cover the entire sheet, leaving a 2-inch border.
• Sprinkle a layer of half the chopped pistachios over the jam. Place the apricot wedges, skin-side down, in even rows across the surface, then sprinkle again with remaining pistachios.
• Carefully fold over the edges on all sides of the tart to make a 10-by-16-inch rectangle. Brush folded sides with butter. Sprinkle sugar generously over apricots and folded edges.
• Bake until pastry is golden and apricots begin to color, about 1 hour. Cool for 15 minutes, then cut into squares. Serve warm or at room temperature.

APRICOT TART WITH PISTACHIO FRANGIPANE

Steps:

• Start with the pastry shell: Heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit/190 degrees Celsius. Prepare a 9-inch/23-centimeter nonstick tart pan with a removable base by lining the bottom with parchment and greasing the sides with butter. If needed, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a circle roughly 1/8- to 1/4-inch/3- to 5-millimeters thick and large enough to line the base and sides of the tin, plus extra to poke above the edge by about 1/2 inch/1 centimeter. (Some store-bought doughs may be the perfect size right out of the package.) Carefully line the pan with the pastry and press it down so it covers the base and sides, with excess overhang.
• Cover the pastry with parchment paper or waxed paper and fill with dried beans or pie weights. Place pan on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, then remove the paper with the beans. Prick the pastry base and sides with a fork about 15 times, then bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Set aside to cool.
• Poach the apricots: Add Sauternes, lime half, vanilla, sugar and 3 tablespoons/40 milliliters water to a saucepan that is just big enough to hold the apricot halves in one layer. Place the pan over high heat and cook until the sugar has melted and the liquid boils.
• Remove the pan from the heat and place the apricots in the hot liquid, cut-sides down. Leave them to poach in the residual heat until they are soft but still hold their shape (20 to 40 minutes, depending on how ripe they are) flipping them every 10 minutes. Transfer the apricots to a covered container and refrigerate until needed. Squeeze the lime into the syrup and then discard it; return the saucepan with the syrup to medium-high heat and simmer until reduced to 2 tablespoons, 5 to 8 minutes. Set aside at room temperature until needed.
• Next, make the frangipane: Set aside 2 tablespoons of pistachios for serving. In a food processor, blitz the remaining pistachios until coarsely ground. Add the marzipan and blitz to a coarse crumb. Add all the remaining frangipane ingredients and blitz for 30 seconds, until everything just comes together.
• Once the tart shell has cooled completely, spoon the frangipane back in and spread it flat with the back of a spoon. Cut 3 1/2 ounces/100 grams of the apricot halves (3 or 4 of them) into quarters (or sixths if larger) and arrange evenly over the frangipane, pushing them down gently. Bake tart for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown and just set. Set aside until cool enough to handle. Remove the tart from the tin and set on a wire rack to cool completely. If making the recipe over two days, wrap the pastry in plastic wrap (cling film) once it has cooled completely.
• While the frangipane is baking (or the next day), make the crème pâtissière: In a medium bowl, whisk 2 tablespoons sugar with the cornstarch (cornflour), flour and yolks until smooth. Add milk, butter, vanilla and the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar to a saucepan over medium-high heat and cook until warm but not boiling. Remove the milk from the heat. While whisking, pour a third of the warm milk into the egg mix, and whisk well. Pour the mixture back into the pan with the rest of the milk and return to medium-low heat. Continue cooking, whisking vigorously, until mixture bubbles and becomes very thick. Remove pan from heat and leave to cool for 5 minutes, then spoon on top of the cooled frangipane, smoothing with the back of a spoon. Cover surface with plastic wrap (cling film) and refrigerate for 2 hours until completely set.
• Just before serving, cut the remaining apricot halves into quarters (or sixths if larger). Arrange the apricots evenly in circles over the crème pâtissière, cut-side up, leaving a 2-inch/5-centimeter gap between each apricot (push them into the crème slightly as you go). Drizzle 1 tablespoon of the reduced poaching syrup evenly over the tart, then drizzle the orange blossom water over the tart. Roughly chop the reserved pistachios and mix with 1 teaspoon sugar. Sprinkle the pistachio mix in the gaps between the apricots to cover the crème pâtissière and serve at once with the remaining syrup drizzled over each piece once sliced.

APRICOT AND PISTACHIO BAKLAVA WITH ORANGE CARDAMOM SYRUP

Steps:

• Thaw the phyllo overnight in the refrigerator. Then put the phyllo box on the counter to come to room temperature, 1-1/2 to 2 hours.
• Make the filling: Put the pistachios, apricots, and sugar in a food processor. Process until the nuts and apricots are finely chopped (the largest should be the size of small dried lentils), 30 to 45 seconds. Set aside.
• Assemble the baklava: Unfold one pack of the phyllo sheets and stack them so that they lie flat on your work surface. Cover the top with plastic wrap, letting some excess plastic fall over all four edges. Dampen and wring out a kitchen towel and drape it on top of the plastic wrap; this will hold the plastic in place and prevent the phyllo from drying out.
• Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Brush the bottom of a 9x13-inch metal pan (preferably with straight sides and a light-color interior to prevent overbrowning on the edges) with some of the butter. Remove a sheet of phyllo from the stack, re-cover the rest (be sure to cover the remaining sheets each time you remove a new one), and put the sheet in the bottom of the pan. Brush the sheet with some of the melted butter but don't soak the phyllo (remember, you'll have about 40 layers of buttered phyllo by the time you're done). Repeat until you have layered and buttered about half the sheets from the first pack-about 10 sheets in all. If your pan has slightly angled sides, arrange the sheets so the excess falls on the same side of the pan and cut the extra off every few layers with a paring knife. Sprinkle about one-third of the filling evenly over the phyllo.
• Repeat layering and buttering the remaining sheets from the first pack and sprinkle on another third of the filling. Open, unfold, and cover the second pack of phyllo. Layer and butter it as described above, sprinkling the remaining filling after layering about half the phyllo, and ending with a final layer of phyllo (you may not need all of the butter). Cover loosely and put the pan of baklava in the freezer for 30 minutes (this makes it much easier to cut the pastry).
• Bake the baklava: Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F.
• Before baking, use a thin, sharp knife, preferably serrated,and a gentle sawing motion to cut the baklava on the diagonal at 1-1/2-inch intervals in a diamond pattern. Try not to compress the pastry by pressing down on it with one hand while cutting with the other. Not only are you cutting serving portions, you are also cutting pathways for the flavored syrup to permeate the pastry, so be sure to cut the pastry all the way to the bottom of the pan. If you have an electric carving knife, pull it out and use it now. Bake the baklava until golden, 40 to 45 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool completely. Run a knife along the cut lines to help the syrup absorb evenly.
• Make the syrup: Simmer the sugar and orange juice in a small pan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is dissolved and the liquid is clear, about 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cardamom. Pour the syrup evenly over the entire surface of the baklava, allowing it to run down into the cut marks and along the sides of the pan. Allow the baklava to cool to room temperature before serving.
• Make Ahead Tips. The baklava is at its best about 24 hours after the syrup is added. It will keep at room temperature for up to 5 days, though the texture changes from flaky and crisp to more solid and crystallized as time goes by.