Ingredients
1 sheet shortcrust pastry
150g butter or equiv.
100g caster sugar
Zest of ½ lemon
½ tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp orange blossom water
½ tsp almond essence
2 eggs
150g almond meal
20g plain flour
3-4 nectarines, halved
Apricot jam to coat pastry
Icing sugar for dusting
Summary
- Thaw pastry sheet a little & roll it out, so it covers a baking tin. Use a tart tin with a removal base for convenience.
- Carefully press pastry sheet into tin, removing excess pastry at the edges. Blind bake pastry in a preheated 180˚C oven for 12-15 mins.
- To prepare the filling, cream butter and sugar with a fork until sugar dissolves.
- Put lemon zest, almond & vanilla essence, and orange blossom water into a bowl, add the eggs and beat with a fork.
- Combine mixture little by little with a whisk into the butter mixture.
- Add the almond meal and flour to the combined egg & butter mixture, stirring through with a whisk.
- When pastry is ready, melt about 2 Tbs of apricot jam in a small saucepan, then brush over the pastry, making sure to coat the sides.
- Pour frangipane filling into the pastry casing, and press nectarine halves into the mixture. Bake for 1 hour. Leave to cool.
- When tart is cool, dust with icing sugar to serve.
Hints and Tips
Made with fuzz-less fruits, which are slightly sweeter and certainly less hairy than their big brother the peach, nectarines are ideal for little eaters who may prefer to snack on the bald flesh of this variety of Prunus.
