Apricot tart with white grapefruit and lemon verbena

Apricot tarts with white grapefruit and lemon verbena

Eight 7,5cm tartlets 

Sweet shortcrust

65g softened butter
40g confectioner’s sugar
15g almond flour
30g egg
110g flour
1/4 tsp. salt 

Almond frangipane with white grapefruit

60g almond flour
60g softened butter
60g sugar
6g flour
1 egg
1 Tbsp. of finely grated white grapefruit zest 

Begin by making the shortcrust. Cream together the butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in almond flour and egg followed by the flour and salt. Mix only until the dough comes together. Gather into a ball, press into a disc and wrap in clingfilm. Chill for an hour in the fridge. While the dough is resting, prepare the grapefruit & lemon verbena cremeux. 

Remove your shortcrust dough 10 minutes before rolling out. Preheat the oven to 180C, divide the dough in 8 portions and roll them to about 3-4mm thickness. Line eight 7,5cm tart rings with the dough and freeze for 30 minutes.

Blind bake for 14 minutes, while you make the walnut frangipane. Mix everything but the egg together, and when homogenous whisk in the egg. Don’t overwork the frangipane as that can cause the frangipane to split. 

Remove the foil and weights from the tart shells, fill about 1cm layer of frangipane mix in each of the tart shells and bake for another 8-10 minutes, until the frangipane is baked and the tart shells are golden brown. 

Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack. 

White grapefruit & lemon verbena cremeux  

100g granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. finely grated white grapefruit zest
225ml white grapefruit juice
125ml heavy cream
12g lemon verbena leaves, finely chopped
4 egg yolks
3 gelatin sheets

In a small saucepan, heat the cream until steaming hot. Add the verbena leaves, remove from heat and leave to infuse for an hour. 

Soak gelatin sheets in ice cold water for 5 minutes. 

Whisk together sugar, egg yolks, grapefruit juice and –zest in a heat proof bowl. Bring the heavy cream to a boil, then strain and discard the verbena leaves. Add ¼ of the warm cream to the grapefruit mixture while whisking rapidly. Pour the mixture back into the cream and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture reaches 82C. 

Squeeze excess water from the gelatin sheets and dissolve in the cream.  Transfer to a bowl, press a piece of cling film against the surface to avoid a skin forming and cool to room temperature. Transfer to a piping bag, pipe the cremeux on top of the cooled tart shells and transfer to the refrigerator for at least an hour. 

Assembly

12-16 apricots
200g water
200g granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. verbena leaves

Cut the apricots in half and remove the pit. Make a simple syrup by bringing the sugar, water and verbena leaves to a boil. Turn the heat down low and gently poach the apricots just until slightly softened, but not mushy. Slice the apricots in thin slices and arrange in a floral rose/ranunculus pattern beginning from the edge and working towards the center. Serve immediately or store cold until ready to serve.