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Apricot Rum Tart

Source of Recipe

Giovanna


Recipe Link: messageboards.ivillage.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=iv-fdcooking&msg=6278.5

List of Ingredients

Custard
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup golden rum
several pinches of nutmeg
12 ripe apricots, halved, pitted and cut into wedges
6 partially baked 4 1/2 inch pate brisee tartlet shells or one 11-inch one (recipe follows)
Vanilla sugar (recipe follows)
1 Tbsp unsalted butter cut into pieces
Confectioners' sugar


Recipe

Preheat oven to 375.

To make the custard, beat the egg and sugar until thick and pale yellow. Add the flour, beating until smooth. Stir in the cream, rum and nutmeg to taste.

Arrange the apricot wedges, cut side down, in the partially baked tart shells. Spinkle with a bit of vanilla sugar and dot with butter. Bake for 5 minutes
Remove the tarts from the oven and pout the custard mixture over and around the fruit.

Bake until the custard is set and golden, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.

Dust the top of the tarts with a bit of onfectioners' sugar and place them under the broiler until they brown a few seconds. Serve warm.

Vanilla Sugar:
1 vanilla bean
3 cups sugar

Split the vanilla bean and put it in a glass jar with a tight fitting lid. Pour in the sugar, put on the lid, and set aside for a week. Shaking jar from time to time. Replenish the jar with more sugar are you use it up.

Pate Brisee:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

Put the flour, salt and sugar in the bowl of a food processor. Add the pieces of butter and process for about 10 seconds, or just until the mixture resembles coarse meal. (to mix by hand, combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Using a pastry blender or hands cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal.) Add ice water, a little at a time, through the feed tube with the machine running, just until the dough holds together without being wet or sticky; do not process more than 30 seconds.
Test the dough at this point by squeezing a small amount together. If it is crumbly, add a bit more water.

Turn the dough out on to a large piece of plastic wrap and gather into a disk using the plastic wrap to press the dough together. Wrap the dough in the plastic and chill for at least an hour.