Featured Recipe
Augustines Apricot and Almond Tarts
Adapted from recipe by Jeannie Hayden on Jeannie’s Kitchen
When I bite into a warm Augustines of Central apricot cradled in a sweet almond shortcrust pastry it transports me back to long hot summers in Central Otago. This apricot has been suspended in time, tree ripened in the summer sun, protected by a syrup flavoured with Central Otago Riesling. It’s preserved perfection.
I’m very proud to say, my son Gus is the preserving artisan behind Augustines of Central. His passion for preserving, and apricots, will bring back memories of the preserved fruit once made by our mothers or grandmothers.
My mother preserved apricots when I was young, but my generation tended to use the convenience of commercially canned fruit or the home freezer. Now that the preserving skills have been lost to many and there isn’t an option of good quality canned apricots in supermarkets, Gus has created an opportunity to join a growing number of artisan food producers. His apricots not only look good on the shelf, they taste like apricots used to.
Augustines Apricot and Almond Tart Recipe
(Makes 20 individual tarts – depending on the size of your tins)
Ingredients:
Augustines Sundrop Apricots in Riesling Syrup
150g plain flour or spelt flour (Always use a low gluten flour for short pastry – avoid high grade.)
100g cold butter
50g ground almonds
50g caster sugar
1 large egg yolk
1-2 Tbsp of ice-cold water with a squirt of lemon juice (if needed)
3 tbs Riesling syrup from Augustines Apricot jar
Method
Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius
Cut cold butter into small cubes.
Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl, then mix in the ground almonds and caster sugar. Add to this the butter and use a pastry cutter or a food processor to create a texture that looks like fine breadcrumbs. This takes time with a cutter but less than 20 seconds with a food processor. Avoid using your hands to work the butter into the flour. The heat from your hands will soften the butter. The finer the butter is cut up to produce a fine crumb, the lighter you’ll make the pastry.
Add the egg yolk and mix everything with your finger tips – do not squeeze dough, just gently bring together to form a soft ball of dough. If more liquid is required add a tablespoon of ice-cold water at a time. This step can be done in a food processor using the pulse button. Do not overwork the dough.
Gently with your hands roll the dough into a short, thick sausage approximately the diameter of your patty cases. Cut thicker slices than you need if the sausage round is not quite big enough for your patty pan. Gently roll in one direction turning each time to flatten out to the desired size for your individual tins.
Mould the pastry into the base of the patty pans and place in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes. Resting prevents shrinkage in the oven.
Remove the cases from the fridge and pop an apricot in the middle.
Bake for 20 minutes or until cooked at 180 Celcius.
While the tarts are in the oven, reduce 3tbs of syrup in a small saucepan until thick – this will be used to glaze the tarts.
Use a pastry brush or spoon to sweep the glaze onto the tarts
Cool in the tin, then carefully remove and put on a cooling rack.
Serve warm and simply with a little pour of runny cream or dollop of mascarpone cheese. Enjoy!