Almond, Apricot and Limoncello Torte
"I have soo many recipes on the pipeline but it is only a matter of time and they will all be here. It’s a promise. They are all really exciting recipes and super, super delicious homemade cooking made all so easy. We don’t just love this recipe, we adore it because it’s very tasty, simple yet very sophisticated, easy to make and super dellliciossso and super easy to eat! Try this tart and then we talk about it. It’s delish!"
Notes* If you don’t fancy making the pastry at home you can cut corners by using ready bought shortcrust or puff pastry.
* For fruits you could use apricots as mentioned but I have also used plums (in this picture), peaches, cherries or raspberries. Used them all in the past and they are delicious. I have to say though that apricots and peaches are my number one choice. Oh, that flavours.... so unique....
* I have also used prunes for this recipe and are gorgeous too. Plenty of options to choose from.
* I was suggesting to fold the pastry but also you could place it on the parchment paper, roll it and then place it in the fridge ready rolled if you do not fancy putting the tin in the fridge. The only down side to this is that the pastry may crack/break slightly when handled but to tackle this you can simply leave it out of the fridge for 5 min before handling it.
* You can also go for/use a loose-bottomed tin. It’s easier to take the torte out if you like to take it out.
Serves10 People
Preparation Time20 min
Cooking Time45 min
Ingredients
- For the pastry:250 g plain flour
- 150 g butter (cold)
- 5 tbsp milk or water
- For the filling:150 g almond flour
- 190 g sugar (cane, unrefined)
- 150 g butter (melted)
- 6 eggs (medium)
- 7 tbsp crème fraiche or double cream
- 190 ml limoncello liqueur
- 2 lemons (organic, unwaxed)
Instruction
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Prepare a dish that is around 25-27cm in diameter. Also get the baking beans out as you will need them later.
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Start with making the shortcrust pastry by sifting the flower into a bowl, and a rob the cubed cold butter into the flour until it is all crumbs. Add the water and knead until it becomes a dough. Shape the dough into a ball, wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate it for about 20-25 minutes. If you are in a hurry, place it in a freezer for half the time.
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Flour a surface and start rolling the pastry into a round shape and keep rolling it until this will go over the size of your dish base. It will have to be bigger so that you can raise the edges for at least 1-2 cm or more depending on the depth of your dish.
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Place the rolled pastry sheet in the tin and put that in the fridge ready to go in the oven later. It's easier this way.
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Preheat the oven at 180°C/350F or Gas Mark 4. Line the pastry with parchment paper and place the baking beans over. Bake in preheated oven for approximately 16 minutes.
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While the pastry is baking, take out a larger bowl so we get the filling ready. Beat the eggs using a free standing or hand electric mixer (high speed), add the sugar plus the melted butter and mix together until it becomes a nice and smooth paste. Zest and juice the lemons, add both zest (you may want to keep a little for deco). Blend in the crème fresh/double cream and the limoncello continuing with the mixer at its lowest speed.
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When the pastry has finished baking, remove from the oven and allow to cool. Remove the baking beans.
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Pour the egg mixture over the pastry base after removing the parchment paper and the baking beans. Add the halved apricots and the pecan nuts pushing those slightly in and bake in the preheated oven at 180°C for around 20-22 min. It should be golden brown in colour.
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Take out of the oven, allow to cool and dust generously with icing sugar. Sprinkle some lemon zest and mint or lavender for a little colour to decorate this beauty.
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Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream or cool with a dollop of creme fraiche.