Shortbread tart with sweet apricots and rosemary

A recipe from cooking-ez.com

For 1 tart, you will need:

• 1 1 kg apricots
• 2 1 litre 500 ml water
• 3 150 g caster sugar
• 4 2 lemons
• 5 350 g flour
• 6 180 g butter
• 7 80 g caster sugar
• 8 5 g fine (or table) salt
• 9 2 egg yolks
• 10 75 g butter
• 11 2 sprigs rosemary
• 12 20 g beaten egg
• 13 2 tablespoons flakeds almonds
• 14 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• Total weight: 3,765 grams

Times:

Preparation	Cooking	Start to finish
60 min.	1 hour 5 min.	2 hours 3 min.

Step by step recipe

1	Poaching apricots Prepare 1 kg apricots.
2	Prepare a syrup by pouring 1 litre 500 ml water, 150 g caster sugar and the juice of 2 lemons into a large saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer. If possible, save half a lemon from the squeezed lemons, so you can use the zest immediately after cooking.
3	Pour the apricot halves into the syrup and gently poach, still simmering, for 1 hour. Meanwhile, make the shortbread pastry.
4	The shortbread dough Pour 350 g flour, 180 g butter, 80 g caster sugar and 5 g fine (or table) salt into the bowl of a mixer.
5	Knead until you obtain a sandy dough.
6	Add 2 egg yolks, and knead again...
7	...then gather the dough into a ball by hand.
8	Roll out the ball on a sheet of baking paper to a thickness of 1/2 centimeter, with a diameter of about 26 cm (10.5 inches).
9	Place the dough, paper down, in a large 26 cm (10.5 inch) diameter tart tin, and press the dough down with your fingers to adjust its diameter to that of the tin. Leave to rest in the fridge.
10	Rosemary butter In a small saucepan over low heat, pour 75 g butter and 2 sprigs rosemary.
11	Melt the butter, remove the surface foam, then turn off the heat and leave to infuse.
12	Dressing the tart After 1 hour, the apricots have become very soft.
13	Drain, upside down, on a wire rack. Set aside the remaining syrup for another use or recipe, as it freezes well.
14	Meanwhile, remove the pastry from the fridge and turn the tin over onto another sheet of baking paper placed on a baking sheet. This will give you a very even disk of pastry for the future tart.
15	Brush the pastry with the gilding.
16	Garnish the entire surface with apricots, but don't be afraid to squeeze, as the apricots will shrink a little as they cook.
17	Generously coat the apricots with the rosemary butter, then sprinkle over 2 tablespoons brown sugar.
18	Finish with 2 tablespoons flakeds almonds and bake at 180°C (360°F) for 50 minutes.
19	Remove from the oven and add a touch of rosemary butter...
20	...and if possible, finish with a little lemon zest.
21	Your tart is ready, decorate with a sprig of rosemary, and enjoy, if possible, warm or lukewarm.

Remarks

Try to have apricots that are a little firm, not too ripe, otherwise poaching will make them a little too soft.
If you have any rosemary butter left over, save it for later, for cooking vegetables for example, the taste is quite extraordinary.
If you prefer to use semi-salted butter, leave the salt out of the dough.

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