Fruity Almond Puff Pastry Tart Food

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.

RASPBERRY ALMOND TART

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Cut a 3/4-inch wide strip off each side of the pastry and reserve. Roll out the pastry sheet on a lightly floured work surface to a 10-inch square. Brush the edges of the square with the egg. Working with 1 strip at a time, stand the strips along the edges of the pastry square and crimp where they meet. You want to create a shallow box, where the pastry square is the base and the 4 strips are the walls. Overlap the strips at the corners, stretching them if necessary to complete the walls of the box. Brush the border with the egg. Pierce the center of the pastry all over with fork. Bake until the pastry is golden brown, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool completely.
• Using an electric mixer, beat the cream until soft peaks. With the mixer still running, gradually add the sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks. Add the liqueur and beat until just well blended; be careful not to overmix or the whipped cream will turn into a buttery consistency and start to separate. Using a large spatula, fold in the nuts. Spoon the cream mixture into the prepared pastry crust. Arrange the berries over the cream. Sift the cocoa powder over and serve.
• NOTE: You can use any fruit that's in season (orange segments, berries, plums, bananas, grapes). Blueberries make a good substitute for the raspberries, and sliced peaches or nectarines are delicious as well.

PUFF PASTRY TART FILLED WITH ALMOND CREAM

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450°F.
• Purée almond paste, granulated sugar, butter, and a pinch of salt in a food processor until smooth. Add 1 egg, vanilla, and almond extract and purée until incorporated. Add flour and pulse until incorporated.
• Roll out 1 puff pastry sheet into an 11 1/2-inch square on a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin, then brush off excess flour from both sides. Cut out an 11-inch round by tracing around an inverted plate with tip of a paring knife. Transfer round to a buttered large baking sheet (not dark metal, or pastry may brown too much), discarding trimmings, and chill. Repeat procedure with second pastry sheet, leaving round on floured surface.
• Beat remaining egg with a fork and brush some over top of second round. Score round decoratively all over using tip of knife, then make several small slits all the way through pastry, at about 2-inch intervals, to create steam vents.
• Brush some of egg in a 1-inch-wide border around edge of chilled pastry round (on baking sheet). Mound almond cream in center of chilled round, spreading slightly, and bury bean in cream. Immediately cover with decorated round and press edges together lightly. Holding a small spoon with side at an angle, press around edge to seal galette decoratively.
• Bake galette in lower third of oven until puffed and pale golden, 13 to 15 minutes. Dust galette with confectioners sugar and bake in upper third of oven until edge is deep golden brown and shiny, 12 to 15 minutes more. Transfer to a rack to cool slightly, 5 to 10 minutes. Serve warm.

ALMOND PASTRY PUFFS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine 1 cup flour and salt; cut in 1/2 cup butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add 2 tablespoons cold water; stir with a fork until blended. Shape dough into a ball; divide in half. Place dough 3 in. apart on an ungreased baking sheet; pat each into a 12x3-in. rectangle., In a large saucepan, bring remaining butter and water to a boil. Remove from the heat; stir in extract and remaining flour until a smooth ball forms. Remove from the heat; let stand for 5 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue beating until mixture is smooth and shiny. , Spread over rectangles. Bake at 400° until topping is lightly browned, 18-20 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to wire racks., For frosting, in a small bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar, butter, water and extract; beat until smooth. Spread over pastries; sprinkle with almonds.

PEACH PUFF PASTRY TART WITH ALMONDS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Line a large baking tray with baking parchment. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry to a 3mm thickness. Cut a circle about 33cm in diameter with a sharp knife, using a plate or anything round as a guide. Using the rolling pin, transfer to the baking tray and score a circle 1cm in from the edge.
• Bake in the oven for 12-15 mins until lightly puffed and golden. Remove from the oven and gently push the centre down with the back of a large spoon so that you have a flat base with a raised border.
• Meanwhile, halve and stone the peaches, then slice thinly. In a bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, ground almonds, egg, lemon zest, almond extract and sherry, if using. Spread the frangipane evenly over the pastry, leaving the border free. Top with the peach slices, neatly overlapping them in circles. Sprinkle over the remaining sugar and the flaked almonds.
• Bake for 30 mins, then turn the oven down to 180C/160C fan/gas 4, cover the tart lightly with foil and cook for a further 30-40 mins. The frangipane should puff up between the peaches and be golden brown and set in the centre. Cool on a wire rack, then slice and serve. Leftovers will keep for 1 day.

QUICK AND EASY FRUIT TARTS

Steps:

• For the tarts: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.
• On a lightly floured work surface, lay out the puff pastry. Cut the puff pastry sheets in half, making 4 rectangles. Place 2 puff pastry rectangles on each sheet pan. Set aside.
• Add the blueberries and strawberries to separate bowls. Divide the granulated sugar and lemon juice between the bowls. Season each with a pinch of salt and stir until well combined.
• Divide the blueberries between 2 of the puff pastry rectangles, leaving a 1/4-inch border on all sides. Do the same with the strawberries and the remaining puff pastry rectangles. Pinch the corners of each rectangle, creating a slight lip. Brush the edges with the cream.
• Bake in the lower half of the oven until golden and crisp, about 20 minutes.
• For the whipped cream: While the tarts bake, add the cream, powdered sugar and vanilla to a large bowl. Using a hand mixer or whisk, whip until soft and billowy. Transfer to a serving bowl and chill until ready to serve.
• Transfer the tarts to a cutting board. Let the tarts cool slightly before slicing approximately 6 times across each tart to create thin slices. Transfer to a serving platter. Scatter the mint leaves over the tart pieces and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve alongside the whipped cream.

PUFF-PASTRY FRUIT TART WITH ALMOND CREAM

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut 3/4-inch-wide strip off each side of pastry and reserve. Roll out pastry square on work surface to 9 1/2-inch square. Brush edges of square with egg glaze. Arrange 3/4-inch-wide strips atop edges, forming raised border. Brush border with glaze. Pierce center of pastry all over with fork. Bake until pastry is golden brown about 25 minutes.
• Meanwhile, blend almond paste and cream in processor until almost smooth. Spoon almond filling into center of tart and spread evenly. Bake 5 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool.
• Melt jam with ginger in heavy small saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently. Arrange fruit decoratively atop tart. Brush jam glaze over fruit. Cut tart into squares and serve.

APRICOT & ALMOND BISTRO TART

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 220C/gas 7/fan 200C. Unroll the pastry on to a lightly dampened baking sheet (this creates steam which helps puff up the pastry), then sprinkle over the ground almonds. Lay the apricot halves over the top, nestling them closely together, right up to the edge of the pastry.
• Dust with the icing sugar and bake for 20-25 minutes until the sugar starts to caramelise a little. If you like, drizzle with maple syrup and serve hot, warm or cold. If you really want to indulge, serve with a spoonful of clotted cream or a pouring of single cream.