My Apricot Saga (Part I) Apricot Amandine Tart, with a Hint of Dulce de Leche

Ready for the beach? I am! The moment I enjoy the most? The late afternoon....when the breeze turns a little bit cool, and I have this craving for a coffee...a coffee with something! "A little something", I always say....

Then I will make a pause in my highly-intellectual activities, like doing crosswords...Last year, during our holidays, my son had the greatest idea: he bought himself the book General Culture for Dummies! We had so much fun! We spent twenty days submitted to his "interrogatoire" My husband was the champ! He knows everything! I think this is one of the reasons why I married him...he always tells me stories...stories based on facts..no, that's not the way to put it...what I love about him is that I never get tired of his conversation...whatever he has to tell me amuses or interests me! 

Well...going back..or rather starting with this Apricot Amandine Tart..I had it on the beach of our hotel last year, during our vacations in Thailand! Yes, there was a pastry chef that mastered French pâtisserie...so this and a coffee? Heaven to me!

The "pâte sucrée" is the one I always use in all my recipes, so crispy...fragile (that's true!) but worth the effort of fitting it inside your mold...I used a rectangular one here... and then, to dare French masters, I committed the sacrilege (Oh, mon Dieu!) of pairing the "crème amandine" with a thin layer of dulce de leche...a "soupçon" (I love this word!!!!) 

The result? When the mild acidity of the apricot meets sweetness in two textures: creamy, for the amandine, more compact, for the dulce de leche.....As Oscar Wilde said: " I can resist everything but temptation".....

Enjoy!

For the "pâte sucrée", follow my recipe here.


Pre-heat the oven 170°C. Fit the pâte into the mold. Cover with aluminum foil, and some weights. Bake for 15'. 

Once cool, apply a thin layer of dulce de leche. Then make the "crème amandine", whisking 100gr of soft butter, and 100grs of sugar. Then add two eggs (one by one) and finally incorporate 100gr of almond flour, and 25gr of flour. Put the cream inside the mold, not until the edge since the cream will swell when baked. Cut the apricots in halves and accomodate them according to your taste and the shape of the mold. Bake 180°C till the crème amandine becomes golden brown. You can decorate sprinkling icing sugar, some caramelized walnuts or almonds, pistachios if you have...