Mary Berry's Apricot Frangipane Tart

When it came to this weeks Bake Off challenge I have to say I was a bit stuck. I have never made a frangipane tart before and to be honest I usually opt for ready made pastry. I therefore played it easy by sticking to a recipe by Mary Berry herself.

I made a slight change and used less apricots (mainly as I skim read the challenge and put them in half rather than slicing them.) It tasted great anyway. Phew! (Note: if you any reason I entered the Bake Off I would clearly be rubbish at any technical challenge.)

INGREDIENTS
For the pastry:
6oz plain flour
3oz butter
1oz caster sugar
1 egg,

For the filling:
3oz butter
3oz caster sugar
2 eggs
3oz ground almonds
½ tsp almond extract
1 1/4 tins of 400g apricot halves (or two if you want to slice them as Mary suggests!

For the drizzle:

A couple of spoons of icing sugar and some of the left over apricot juice.

Method:

I used a flan dish and pre heated the oven to 190C

To make the pastry rub the butter and flour together and then mix in the sugar and egg. Roll the pastry quite thin and put it in the flan dish. Prick all over with a fork.

Make up the frangipane mix by blending all the ingredients together expect the apricots. Dry the apricot halves on kitchen towel and place over the pastry case. Add the frangipane mixture and bake for 40-40 minutes.

Ssshhh don't tell Mary I didn't read the recipe properly! Besides I think it looks pretty as halves.

Take the tart out and allow to cool slightly. Mix the icing sugar and apricot juice together to make an icing drizzle.

Serve as it is or with some vanilla ice cream. I have to say this was a winner with my family. It may have been the first frangipane tart I have made, but it wont be my last.