Prune And Almond Tart Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375. In a bowl, pour the hot tea over the halved prunes, and let the fruit rehydrate while you make the almond filling.
• Put almonds, sugar and salt in a food processor, and pulse just until ground (be careful not to overprocess, or the filling will become a hard paste). Add the butter, eggs, brandy and almond essence, if using, and pulse just until smooth.
• Drain prunes well, pressing out any excess liquid with your hands, and place in the tart shell, more or less in an even layer. Spoon on the almond mixture, smoothing it with the back of the spoon, then sprinkle over remaining sliced almonds. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the top is a nice golden brown. Dust with icing sugar, and let cool before serving.

Steps:

• At least one hour before preparing the tart, pour the hot tea over the prunes and set aside to marinate.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Prepare the cream filling. In a spice grinder or the bowl of a food processor, grind the almonds to a fine powder. Thoroughly blend the almonds with the egg, sugar, brandy and cream. The mixture should be very smooth.
• Thoroughly drain the prunes, discarding the soaking liquid. Carefully arrange the prunes in the cooled, prebaked tart shell. This will seem like a lot of prunes, and you may have to arrange them in two layers. Pour the cream filling over the prunes and place the tart in the center of the oven.
• Bake until the cream filling has set and the tart shell is nicely browned, about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 190C / 375°F.
• Process 125g diced chilled butter, 25g caster sugar and the grated orange rind in a food processor until it resembles breadcrumbs. Turn into a bowl.
• Mix 30ml water and the egg yolk, blend into the mixtureand knead lightly to form a ball; wrap and chill for about 30 minutes.
• Roughly chop the prunes, grate the apple and pour over the Calvados.
• Melt the remaining butter and mix with the ground almonds, beaten eggs and remaining caster sugar.
• Roll the pastry thinly and line 23 cm (9inch) round 4cm (11/4inch) deep, loose based, fluted flan tin. Bake blind until set.
• Add the prunes and apple to the almond mixture and spoon into the flan case. Sprinkle with slivered almonds and bake for 30 minutes or until lightly browned.
• Leave to cool for about 20 minutes.
• Melt the jam with 15ml (1tbsp) orange juice, when bubbling, sieve, then brush over the top of the tart.
• Serve warm or cold with Greek yogurt or creme fraiche.

Steps:

• If you want to make the pastry by hand, beat the butter until it is smooth then mix in the icing sugar, one of the eggs and then add the flour. Or, put all the pastry ingredients (again 1 egg only) in the food processor with 2 tsp water and process just until they form a dough. Wrap the pastry in cling film and put in the fridge for half an hour or so to firm up. (You can freeze the pastry now for up to a month.)
• You need to bake the pastry case blind before adding the filling. The best and easiest way to roll the pastry is between 2 floured pieces of cling film. Line a loose-bottomed 23cm tart tin with the pastry, then line this with a piece of greaseproof paper. Put your baking beans on the paper then put the pastry case in the freezer.
• Preheat the oven to 190C/gas 5/fan 170C.When the pastry case is rock solid (after about 1⁄2-1 hour), put it in the oven on a baking sheet. After 15 minutes, lift out the paper and beans very carefully and glaze the inside with your second egg, beaten first (this makes sure you have no leaks later). Put back in the oven for a further 5 minutes.
• For the filling, melt the butter and leave it to cool a little.While this is happening, beat the eggs, then stir in the sugar and cooled butter. Scatter half the almonds in the base of the tart, then spread the prunes around. Pour the filling over evenly.
• Scatter the rest of the almonds over the top and bake for 20-30 minutes until firm. Take it out, dust over some icing sugar and serve hot, cold or warm with crème fraîche or cream.

Steps:

• Line a 30 cm tart tin with pastry and prick with a fork. Bake blind in the oven at 180°C for 15 minutes or until done.
• Meanwhile tip the prunes, demerarra sugar and wine in a saucepan and simmer for 5 - 10 minutes or until the prunes have absorbed the wine. Set aside to cool, then stuff each prune with broken chocolate.
• Cream the butter and sugar until pale, beat in the eggs one at a time until well incorporated.
• Stir in the ground almonds.
• Spoon the almond filling into the cooked shell and scatter around the prunes, pressing down lightly. Bake the tart in the oven at 180°C for 20 - 30 minutes or until coloured.
• Cool in the tin for 10 minutes before removing the tart. Sprinkle with ground cinnamon.

Steps:

• TO PREPARE THE PASTRY: In a food processor, combine 1 cup of the flour, the butter, salt, and sugar. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, 5 to 10 seconds but no longer. Add the ice water and pulse 8 to 10 times, or until the pastry just begins to hold together. Transfer the dough to a floured surface and flatten into a disk. (If the dough is too sticky, knead it briefly, adding up to 1/4 cup more flour 1 tablespoon at a time as needed to make a smooth dough.) Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up 24 hours.On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to a 12-inch-diameter round. As you roll, lift up the edges and dust some flour underneath to keep the dough from sticking to the surface. Fit the dough into a 10 1/2-inch false-bottomed tart pan. Trim the overhang, leaving about 3/4 inch, then fold the overhang back into the pan, pressing gently along the sides to create double-thick sides. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes or up to 1 hour.Preheat the oven to 375°F.Prick the bottom of the tart shell with a fork and line with aluminum foil, pressing into all the edges to avoid shrinkage while baking. Fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for about 20 minutes, or just until the pastry begins to brown along the edges. Remove the weights and foil and return shell to the oven for 8 to 10 minutes, or until lightly browned all over. Let cool on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes.TO PREPARE THE FILLING: Pour the hot tea over the prunes in a large bowl and let stand for at least 1 hour, or until soft. (Depending on when you plan to fill the tart shell, you may want to soak the prunes before you begin making the pastry.)Preheat the oven to 375°F.In a food processor, grind the almonds to a fine powder. Add the egg, crème fraîche, sugar, and brandy. Process until smooth.Drain the prunes and briefly run them under water to remove any tea leaves. Delicately pat them dry with paper towels. Arrange the prunes in concentric circles in the cooled tart shell in one layer. Pour the almond mixture evenly over the prunes.Bake for about 45 minutes, or until the filling begins to set and the shell is nicely browned. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a wire rack. Dust evenly with the confectioners' sugar and serve.From Dinner Parties. Text copyright © 2004 by Jessica Strand. Photographs copyright © 2004 by Victoria Pearson. All rights reserved. First published by Chronicle Books LLC, San Francisco, California.

Steps:

• make dried fruit compote
• Heat the grappa with the sugar in a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Add the fruit and gently simmer 1 minute. Remove from the heat and let macerate, stirring occasionally, 24 hours.
• make tart shell
• Blend together the flour, butter, and salt in a bowl with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) just until the mixture resembles coarse meal with some small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps.
• Drizzle 2 to 3 tablespoons ice water evenly over mixture. Gently stir with a fork (or pulse) until incorporated. Squeeze a small handful of dough: if it doesn't hold together, add more water, 1/2 tablespoon at a time, stirring (or pulsing) until incorporated. Do not overwork dough, or pastry will be tough.
• Turn out dough onto a work surface and divide into 4 portions. With the heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather the dough together with a pastry scraper, if you have one. Press into a ball, then flatten into a 5-inch disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Set an 11-inch flan ring on a parchment-lined baking sheet. (If using a tart pan, parchment is not necessary.) Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 13-inch round, then fit into the flan ring and trim excess dough. Chill until firm, at least 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 375°F, with the rack in the middle.
• Lightly prick the bottom of the shell all over with a fork, then line with foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until the side is set and the edge is pale golden, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove the foil and weights and bake until the bottom is golden, about 10 minutes more. Cool completely in the pan, about 30 minutes. Leave oven on.
• make frangipane filling
• Beat the almond paste, butter, sugar, extract, and salt in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed 3 minutes. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in the flour.
• fill tart and bake
• Spread the frangipane filling in the cooled shell. Drain the fruit in a sieve set over a bowl, reserving the syrup, and scatter the fruit over the filling, pressing in slightly. Bake until puffed and golden, 30 to 40 minutes. Transfer the tart on parchment to a rack. Brush the reserved syrup over the tart and cool to warm or room temperature.
• do ahead
• The DRIED FRUIT can be macerated up to 3 days.
• The TART SHELL can be baked 1 day ahead and kept (once cool), wrapped in plastic wrap, at room temperature.
• The TART is best eaten the day it is baked but can be made 1 day ahead, covered with foil, kept at room temperature.
• The DOUGH can be chilled 2 days or frozen, wrapped well, 3 months.

Steps:

• Put the prunes and brandy in a small bowl and leave to steep for about 30 minutes until most of the brandy has been absorbed.
• Preheat the oven to 190C/Gas 5/fan oven 170C. Grease a 23cm/9in loose-bottomed cake tin or springform tin. Put the cocoa, chocolate, butter and 140g/5oz of the sugar in a pan, add 100ml/31⁄2fl oz hot water and gently heat until the mixture is smooth. Leave to cool slightly.
• Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks, then gradually whisk in the remaining sugar. Sift the flour and cinnamon over and gently fold in with a metal spoon, until almost combined. Add the chocolate mix and fold in until evenly combined.
• Pour the mixture into the tin and arrange the prunes over the top (they will sink into the sponge during baking). Sprinkle over any remaining brandy and bake for about 30 minutes until just firm. Serve with cream or crème fraîche.