Paul Hollywood's Tarte aux Abricots Recipe

Who better to teach us how to make a classic French tart than the King of baking himself, Mr Paul Hollywood?

Ingredients

For the pastry:

• 156g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 25g ground almonds
• 120g chilled unsalted butter, cubed
• 55g caster sugar
• 1 medium egg

For the crème påtissière:

• 100g caster sugar
• 4 medium egg yolks
• 40g cornflour
• 500ml full-fat milk
• 2 vanilla pods
• 40g butter
• 2tbsp Kirsch

You will need:

• 25cm loose-based tart tin

For the apricot filling:

• 600g ripe apricots, halved and stoned, or tinned apricots, well drained

To glaze:

• 3tbsp apricot jam
• 1tbsp Kirsch
• 1 egg, beaten with a splash of milk (eggwash), for glazing
• Icing sugar, for dusting (optional)

Method

1. To make the pastry stir the flour and ground almonds together in a large bowl, then add the butter and rub in with your fingerttips until the mixture looks like crumbs. Stir in the sugar
2. Break in the egg and work into the mixture with your fingers, bringing it together to form a soft dough
3. Tip the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and shape it into a ball. Flatten with your fingers to a disc and wrap in cling film. Chill for at least three hours before using
4. To make the tart first, make the créme påtissiére. Whisk the sugar, egg yolks and cornflour together in a bowl until smoothly combined and set aside. Pour the milk into a large, heavy-based pan. Split the vanilla pods open, scrape out the seeds with the tip of a knife and add these to the milk with the empty pods. Bring to the boil, then remove from the heat
5. Pour about a quarter of the hot milk on to the egg mixture, whisking as you do so, then return this mixture to the rest of the milk in the pan. Put back over a gentle heat and cook, stirring continuously, until the créme påtissiére becomes thick. Immediately pass through a sieve in to a bowl and stir in the butter. Lay a disc of baking parchment directly on the surface to prevent a skin forming. Leave to cool and then chill before using
6. Roll out the sweet pastry on a lightly floured surface to a large round about 3mm thick. Don't worry if it crumbles or breaks on the first roll - just press it together and re-roll. Use the pastry to line a 25cm loose-based tart tin, leaving the excess pastry hanging over the edge. Chill for 15-20 minutes
7. Heat your oven to 180C. Prick the pastry base all over with a fork. Line the pastry case with baking parchment and baking beans, and bake blind for 15 minutes. Remove the parchment and beans, brush the pastry case with eggwash and return to the oven for a further 8-10 minutes until the pastry case is cooked and golden brown at the edges. Trim off the rough edges and set the pastry case aside. Leave in the tin for 10 minutes before removing and placing on a wire rack to cool
8. Beat the 2tbsp Kirsch into the cooled créme påtissiére and spread it in the cooled pastry case. Arrange the apricots, cut side down, on top
9. Warm the apricot jam and 1tbsp Kirsch in a saucepan until runny, then pass through a sieve. Using a pastry brush, brush this mixture over the apricots to glaze. If you like, you can dust the tart with icing sugar and put it under a hot grill briefly to caramelise the apricots. Serve the tart with vanilla ice cream