05 January 2012
When There Are Apricots For Jam - Manawatu Standard Thursday 5th January 2012
During the past days driving to work through the Opiki has been a real joy. The potatoes are in flower. As far as the eye can see there are paddocks of purple, then next door is a haze of white. Then there are the paddocks of maize. A perfect mat of green, not a fence to be seen just the line of gum trees at the far end of the paddock standing tall. Some of the maize is further advanced and the waving flower heads bring a tinge of red. It is the symmetry of the scene which is so eye catching. Also the clouds in the sky (and we have quite a few of those in the Manawatu) throw shadows over the paddocks which means the scene is one of constant change.
I also like this time of the year as there is such an abundance of stone fruit. My favourite is probably apricots. I remember having superb bottled apricots with my friend Jo in Auckland. She would have the fruit sent up to her by her Wanaka based family when it was tree ripened .Absolutely delicious!
The following recipe is an apricot tart. And on this occasion the apricots are placed raw on top of frangipane cream….a rich almond, sugar and egg mixture. This recipe which I saw in the Taste Calendar differs slightly from the one I usually cook as the frangipane has a little cornflour added to stabilise the mixture. Also this recipe works well with any stone fruit …for example the Taste Calendar used plums and some times I place the fruit with the cut side uppermost ….just to give a different effect
Summer Apricot Tart
Ingredients:
400g block sweet shortcrust pastry or you can make your own
Small jar apricot jam
90g unsalted butter, softened
90g caster sugar
90g ground almonds
2 large eggs, beaten together
1 level tsp cornflour
½ tsp vanilla extract
8-12 fresh apricots
½ cup slivered almonds
1 tbsp lemon juice
Method:
Line pastry into a 23 cm loose bottomed rectangular tart tin (about 27cm x 19cm) and chill. Preheat oven to 180ºC (fanbake). Line pastry with tinfoil and fill with baking beans. Bake for 15mins until the edges have coloured a little and are set in place. Remove baking beans and tinfoil and return flan to the oven for a few minutes to dry the bottom of the pastry. Remove from oven and smear base with a little apricot jam. Beat butter with an electric beater until soft. Add sugar and whisk for 3-4 minutes until pale and fluffy. Add almonds then beat in eggs a little at a time, adding cornflour halfway through. Finally mix in vanilla extract. Turn almond mix into pastry case. Arrange apricots on top, cut side down, pushing them in slightly. Scatter with slivered almonds and bake tart for about 25 minutes at 180ºC (fanbake) until puffy and golden. Cool in tin for 10 minutes, then remove sides of tin and ensure tart is not stuck to base. Heat the rest of the apricot jam in a small pan with the lemon juice just until bubbling, then check the consistency; it should be ‘plopable’ and each enough to brush over the tart. If too thin, reduce it a little; if to thick add a little hot water. Brush the piping hot glaze all over the top of the tart. Remove the tart from the base when it is set. Serve at room temperature with Greek yoghurt.
The next recipe is another tart…this time the apricots are placed directly on to the pastry. The ground nuts help to absorb the juices from the apricots there preventing the tart from becoming soggy
Fresh Apricot Tart
Ingredients:
1 quantity of shortcrust pastry
60g lightly toasted almonds
18 apricots, halved or quartered
½ cup castor sugar
¼ cup Poached Apricots syrup or warm apricot jam – see above
Method:
Linda a 22cm loose-bottomed flan tin with pastry and bake blind at 200ºC for 20 minutes. Remove pastry case but leave oven on. Remove weights and foil. Scatter ground almonds over pastry case and fill with apricots, cut-side up. Sprinkle sugar into cavities of fruit. Bake for 10 minutes, then brush with syrup. Bake for a further 10 minutes, then remove from oven. The fruit will have started to brown around the edges and will subside as the tart cools.
Recently my friend” Flickerty” who was so much part of our lives as our children grew up, appeared the other day with a pot of apricot jam. And I have to tell you I ate nearly the whole pot! The recipe that follows is one of Stephanie Alexander’s. I do not always add the apricot kernels and by heating the sugar separately first, the jam will not have to cook for so long and this means a better flavoured jam
Apricot Jam
Ingredients:
1.5kg apricots, firm-ripe rather than soft
1 cup water
2 tbsp lemon juice
1.5kg sugar
Method: Preheat oven to 160ºC. Wash apricots, then halve or quarter them and remove stones. Wrap half the stones in a napkin and crack them with a meat mallet. Extract kernels and set aside. Discard debris. Put fruit, water and lemon juice into a non-reactive saucepan and slowly bring it to the boil. Simmer until fruit is tender, about 20 minutes, or longer if you prefer your jam not to have chunks of fruit in it. Meanwhile, put sugar into a clean baking dish and warm it to hand-hot in the oven. Add warmed sugar and reserved kernels to pan, stirring until sugar has dissolved, then boil rapidly for about 15 minutes or until setting stage is reached. Ladle into hot, sterilised jars, distributing the kernels evenly, and seal.
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