Apricot Tart
Inside: The trick to peeling ripe apricots and the best way to slice this puff pastry fruit tart without tearing it.
When apricots are in season, this quick and easy apricot tart is the first apricot dessert on my to-do list. This simple puff pastry tart has a limited ingredient list and makes a puckery, jammy treat you’ll love.
If you’re a fan of apricots, you’ve come to the right place. I love these tart, jammy summer fruits and use them often in both savory and sweet recipes., like these country ham biscuits smeared with apricot butter, this Asian Rice salad has chewy dried apricots and these breakfast crepes use apricot jam and a splash of brandy for a morning treat or fancy dessert.
Apricots have versatility, and today, I’m sharing a very simple but elegant apricot dessert that looks fancy but is honestly as easy as apricot pie. (Pun intended.)
Why you’ll love this recipe:
- There’s only 6 ingredients.
- Made with fresh, ripe fruit.
- Uses store-bought puff pastry for convenience.
- It has a crunchy layer of ground almonds for texture.
- It’s not overly sweet — and depending on how sweet your fruit is, it can be a little puckery. Perfect for serving with ice cream.
Ingredients:
- Fresh Apricots – The fruit should be ripe, unblemished, fragrant and yield slightly when pressed with your thumb.
- Puff Pastry Sheet – You can find ready to use puff pastry in the frozen foods section of your market. Defrost the puff pastry in the refrigerator and keep it cold for the best results.
- Sliced or slivered almonds – I’ve done it with both types, and each works well. The key is to add texture and crunch.
- Apricot Preserves or Jam – You only need a thin layer of jam (to help the almonds stick to the puff pastry. If your preserves are very lumpy, run them through a food processor to break up any large pieces of fruit.
- Granulated Sugar – don’t use brown sugar or sugar replacement.
- Unsalted Butter – to help the sugar caramelize and give the fruit a glistening appearance.
Step-by-step instructions:
- Pulse the almonds in a mini food processor until they’re chopped, but not ground too finely.
2. Bring a saucepan of water to a boil and add 2-3 apricots at a time. Blanch the fruit for 20-25 seconds –this will help loosen the skins and make them easy to peel.
Less ripe fruit will take a little longer to blanch. Keep them in the water for 30-40 seconds, and check to see if the skins loosen.
It’s important to work in batches with the fruit because if you add all of the apricots at once, it will dramatically lower the temperature of the water and won’t blanch them evenly.
3. Immediately after the timer goes off for blanching, use a pair of tongs to transfer the apricots to an ice bath to stop the cooking. Let the fruit sit in the ice water for 1-2 minutes until it’s thoroughly chilled.
4. Use a sharp paring knife and peel the skins from the fruit. Blanching and shocking loosens them, and they will practically shrug out of their skins.
Slice the apricots in half and remove the pits. Set aside.
5. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and unroll the puff pastry onto it. Spread the pastry with apricot jam, leaving about a clear 1″ border around the edge.
6. Spread the apricot filling with the chopped almonds.
7. Add the apricot halves, cut side down to the tart (arrange them decoratively or in straight lines).
8. Sprinkle the puff pastry tart with sugar and dot with butter. Bake at 400°F for 45-50 minutes, rotating the pan 180° halfway through baking.
9. Let the baked apricot tart cool on the sheet pan for 5-10 minutes.
If the apricot preserves run (and they usually do) don’t fret. Once the tart cools, the scorched jam will harden to a brittle-consistency and break right off. (Parchment paper makes for easy cleanup).
Pro-Tips:
- The easiest way to cut the apricot tart is using a pizza cutter. It glides through the puff pastry and fruit without tearing or marring and acts as an extension of your hand. It’s very convenient.
- Transferring the apricot pie from the sheet pan to a serving plate is made infinitely easier when its baked on a piece of parchment paper. I actually prefer the paper to silpats for this recipe.
- Should any preserves leak onto your pan and burn, the easiest cleanup method is to place the rimmed sheet pan on your stovetop, add enough water to cover the burned areas on the bottom of the pan and heat the water to a boil. Let it cook for a minute, then turn off the heat and let the pan rest until it’s cool enough to touch. The crusty areas will loosen and wash right off.
Variations:
- Use other types of nuts in place of the almonds, like pistachios or macadamia nuts.
- Try nectarines or peaches instead of apricots – look for freestone peaches, which are easy to peel without blanching and shocking first.
- Swap puff pastry for homemade cream cheese pastry or store-bought pie crust fitted into a tart pan with a removable bottom. Par-bake the crust before filling, then bake at 400° for 30-40 minutes. (If the tart starts to brown too much, lay a piece of aluminum foil over the top to prevent burning.
- Make individual galettes by cutting the puff pastry into squares and topping each with preserves, nuts and 1-2 apricot slices, sugar and butter before baking.
- This apricot tart recipe is very good with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or freshly whipped cream.
Storage:
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for the first day, then in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. The crust will lose some of its crispiness when refrigerated.
Freezing:
- I don’t recommend freezing this puff pastry fruit tart.
Reheating:
- To re-crisp the crust after refrigeration, heat a piece or two of apricot tart in a 350° oven for 8-10 minutes.
FAQ’s
No, this recipe is best with fresh fruit.
No, frangipane is an almond pastry cream, made with almond flour or almond paste, eggs and sugar. This recipe uses crushed almonds and no type of cream or custard.
No, French apricot tarts usually have a frangipane filling and are made in a fluted tart pan with a removable bottom.
More apricot desserts:
- Apricot Cake with Sugared Almonds
- Apricot Sour Cream Bundt Cake
- Cherry Apricot Almond Crisp
- Apricot Almond Fruit Pastry
- Apricot Almond Bars
More tart recipes you’ll love:
- Apple Frangipane Tart
- Death By Chocolate Fudge Tart
- Mini Lemon Tarts
- Apple Cranberry Tart with Walnut Crust
- Calamondin Tart
- Key Lime Mousse Tart
- Passion Fruit Tartlets
Apricot Tart
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:
- half sheet pan
- parchment paper
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 sheet puff pastry
- ¼ cup apricot preserves
- ¾ cup sliced almonds
- 1 pound apricots
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon butter cut into small pieces
DIRECTIONS:
- Preheat the oven to 400°. Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- Place 3/4 cup sliced almonds in a mini-prep food processor and pulse several times until they are finely chopped but not ground to powder. Set aside.
- Assemble an ice bath by filling a large bowl with equal part ice and water, set aside.
- Bring a saucepan of water to a boil and blanch 1 pound apricots, 2-3 fruit at a time for 20 seconds in the boiling water. Use a pair of tongs to transfer the fruit immediately to the ice bath to stop the cooking.. Continue with the rest of the apricots.
- Peel the apricots with a sharp paring knife, slice in half and remove the pits. Set aside.
- Roll 1 sheet puff pastry onto the parchment paper and spread 1/4 cup apricot preserves over the pastry, leaving a 1" bare border. Sprinkle the preserves with the ground almonds.
- Arrange the apricot halves, cut side down, over the almonds. Sprinkle liberally with 1/3 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon butter, cut into small pieces.
- Bake until apricots are tender about 45-50. Cool for 5-10 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer the apricot tart to a serving platter.
- To serve, I recommend using a pizza cutter – it glides through the tart without tearing or pulling.
NUTRITION:
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Wow. This is so beautiful Lisa! I never really ate many apricots but this would definitely have me tempted.
This looks wonderful! My grandmother used to make apricot tart! Yummy!
This tart looks so good!! I love it!!
This tart looks amazing – so pretty! And almond and apricot are such a classic combination of flavors. I wish I had a slice now.
If you have apricots, it doesn’t take long to make
I’m loving the apricot and almonds combo! I haven’t had apricots in a long time. I need to try this recipe.
Get some good apricots and let me know how you like it!
This looks both delicious and elegant! What a beautiful desert that would be perfect for ANY spread. Your pictures are beautiful as well. Thank you for sharing! Luci’s Morsels | fashion. food. frivolity.
I need to try this!!
Yes. Yes, you do!
Loved the recipe and the blog! Pictures are awesome, thanks for sharing.
I appreciate you saying so, Kimberly!
This is the best thing I have seen today..loved the recipe. Pinned it.
Thanks Priya! I’ll be making it again soon!
This looks gorgeous! I am so focused on peaches (they are growing in my backyard) that I’ve completely overlooked the apricot. I’m adding some of these to my grocery list.
Glad you like it Renee! I’ve added this to my annual “must make” summer dessert list!
I LOVE the smell of apricots. They take me right back to my grandmother’s kitchen, she always had a bowl of them on the counter and it always smelled like apricots. I just picked some up and have been trying to think of what to do with them, PLUS I am obsessed with tarts and pies, so this looks like the perfect thing to make 🙂
Please let me know how you like it!
Not only is this a beautiful looking dessert…but I’m pretty sure that if I make it, I’d eat the entire thing in under an hour. And that’s alright by me! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
If you eat the whole thing, I won’t tell!
I can NEVER find good apricots around here, but I just got a membership to Costco. I need to stock up like you did, this tart looks wonderful!
Costco will change your life!
What a beautiful dessert! I don’t even have a tart pan but I think this might motivate me to get one!
Oh – get a tart pan Kathi! They are so versatile! And make this tart, cause it’s just too good not to!
This tart looks so good! I haven’t made a tart in forever, but since apricots are in season (and I love to eat them with everything) I might have to start baking again! 😀
Glad I could provide inspiration, Krysten!
Wow, this would be a showstopper for brunch! I’m sure the flavors are amazing and it looks absolutely gorgeous!
Oh – yes, absolutely perfect for brunch! It’s not too heavy, either.
Oh my!! Absolutely gorgeous tart, and I love the flavor combo here too!!
Thank you Shinee! It’s really wonderful!
This is one gorgeous tart. I love that you used apricots.
Glad you like it! — it is quintessential summer!
Lisa, this is an absolutely gorgeous tart. Everything from scratch is the way to go!
Thanks Peter! – I cheated on the pie crust — I suck at pastry — but the rest of it is from scratch!
How gorgeous is this!!!
Thank you – it’s truly spectacular!