Honey Recipes: Apricot Almond Tart with Honey

The finished tart with our backyard honey

Bakers have been known to be quite snobbish about their almond tarts. When people ask if that’s almond paste in his tart, my favorite French chef in Albuquerque laments in a thick accent, “It’s not almond paste! It’s almond cream!” He’s genuinely hurt.

So for Bruno, we have a tart with bona fide almond cream, but this one is sweetened with honey rather than sugar making it even more lovely and floral and local.

Honey Almond Tart with Apricots

• Recipe inspired by Tartelette
• Makes one 8-inch-diameter or rectangular tart

The key to this recipe is the post-bake drizzle with honey. Make sure the honey used at this final step is a high quality floral honey, preferably one purchased at your local farmer’s market.

Crust

1 batch of flaky tart dough (it’s so easy to make in the food processor!)

Fruit

6-8 apricots, washed, pitted and quartered

Honey-Almond Cream

1 stick  butter, softened
1/3 cup spring honey (lavender honey would be sublime here!)
1 cup ground almond meal
2 eggs
1 TB heavy cream

Instructions

1. Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface, about 2” larger than the circumference of the tart pan. Fold over the rolling pin and place in the tart pan, gently fitting the pastry up the sides. Trim any excess pastry from the top.
2. Refrigerate the tart pan with pastry for 20-30 minutes before baking in the center of the oven. This step ensures the butter is cold when baked, helping to create a flaky crust.
3. Prebake the tart with pie weights and parchment paper or foil for about 12-15 minutes in a 375F oven until the crust is set and before it becomes golden.
4. While the tart is chilling and baking, blend the butter, honey, ground almonds, and the eggs in a food processor or large bowl and process until smooth and creamy. Add the cream and stir by hand.
5. Pour the cream into the pre-baked tart crust. Arrange the apricots quarters at top of the cream.
6. Turn the oven down to 350F. Bake the tart 25-30 minutes or until the almond cream is puffed up around the apricots and has turned a warm light golden color.
7. Drizzle the tart with a bit of extra honey if desired when still warm.