Recipe for apricot tartlets

These delicious little cakes are a classic in French boulangeries and this recipe for apricot tartlets is easy to make.

SERVES 8

Preparation: 45 minutes
Resting: 20 minutes
Cooking: 25 minutes

INGREDIENTS

4 large sweet, juicy apricots
4 ½ oz. (125 g) apricot glaze or preserves

Crumbled sweet short pastry

2 ¾ cups (250 g) cake flour
1 generous teaspoon (5 g) salt
1 stick (125 g) unsalted butter, softened
1 egg yolk
3 ½ tablespoons (40 g) sugar
4 ½ tablespoons (50 ml) water

Almond cream

7 tablespoons (100 g) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
1 generous cup (100 g) ground almonds or almond meal
2 eggs
A few drops of vanilla extract
1 tablespoon (15 ml) rum

METHOD

Prepare the crumbled sweet short pastry:

Sift the flour with the salt. Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until you have the texture of coarse crumbs. Incorporate the egg yolk, sugar, and water. Be careful not to overwork the dough, which would make it too elastic, and form it into a ball. Flatten it out with the palm of your hand to ensure it is thoroughly mixed. Chill, covered in plastic wrap, for 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).

Roll the dough out with a pastry roller into a circle about ⅛ in. (3 mm) thick. Cut out circles big enough to line the tartlet molds and transfer them to the molds. Make a decorative pattern around the edges.

Prepare the almond cream:

Cream the softened butter well with the sugar. Add the ground almonds, and then the eggs, mixing them in one by one. Add the flavorings and whisk until smooth. Half fill the tart shells with the almond cream.

Wash the apricots, cut them in half, and remove the pits. Place an apricot half in the center of each tartlet, pressing it into the almond cream.

Bake for about 20–25 minutes. When they are almost done, remove the tartlets from the molds and return to the oven for a few minutes so that the edges of the pastry shells can brown lightly. Transfer to a cooling rack immediately and brush them with apricot glaze. If you are using apricot preserves, liquefy it a little over low heat first.

Extracted from The Complete Book of French Cooking by Hubert Delorme and Vincent Boué (Flammarion, 2023).