Apricot and almond tart with brown bread and banana ice cream
Try making this free-form fruit tart with shop-bought shortcrust pastry to make it even easier. If making the banana ice cream, remember to chop and freeze the bananas at least an hour in advance.
Ingredients
For the apricot and almond tart
- 250g/9oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 60g/2¼oz cold butter, cut into cubes, plus extra for greasing
- 60g/2¼oz cold lard, cut into cubes
- 2 x 410g tins apricot halves in juice, drained
- 15²µ/½´Ç³ú flaked almonds, roughly chopped, plus a few extra to decorate (optional)
- 15²µ/½´Ç³ú unsalted butter, melted
- 15²µ/½´Ç³ú soft brown sugar (or sugar of your choice)
- 1 free-range egg, beaten, to glaze (alternatively, use a little milk)
For the brown bread ice cream
- 100²µ/3½´Ç³ú wholemeal or brown bread
- 200ml/7fl oz full-fat milk
- 3 free-range egg yolks
- 100²µ/3½´Ç³ú caster sugar
- 400ml/14fl oz double cream
- 100²µ/3½´Ç³ú sultanas (or raisins)
- 2 tsp fresh breadcrumbs (ideally from brown bread)
- 1 tsp sugar
- few pinches ground cinnamon
For the banana ice cream
- 4 over-ripe bananas, chopped into pieces and frozen
- 100–200g/3½–7oz any type of yoghurt
- pinch ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp vanilla extract (optional)
Method
For the brown bread ice cream, soak the bread in the milk for an hour. Beat the egg yolks in a large bowl until pale and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat well. Pour in the cream and whisk until the mixture has almost doubled in size. Drain the milk from the brown bread, give a gentle squeeze to remove any excess milk and tear the bread into small pieces. Fold it through the whipped cream mixture along with the sultanas. Pour into a loaf tin or plastic container.Mix together the breadcrumbs, sugar and cinnamon and scatter over the top. Cover the container with a lid and freeze for about 4 hours.
For the apricot and almond tart, preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Lightly grease a large baking tray or line with baking paper.
Put the flour in a large bowl and add the butter and lard. Rub together using your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add cold water, a tablespoon at a time, until the mixture comes together and forms a firm dough. Wrap in cling film and place in the fridge.
Put the apricots, almonds, butter and sugar in a bowl and mix well.
Lightly flour a work surface and roll out the pastry into a circle about 1cm/½in thick and 22cm/8½in in diameter (you can cut around a large plate).
Transfer to the baking tray, arrange the apricot filling in the centre of the circle. Bring the pastry edges up and over the fruit, pleating it round but leaving a gap in the centre to show the filling. Brush the pastry with the beaten egg or milk. Bake for 1 hour, or until the pastry is golden-brown.
For the banana ice cream, put all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. This needs to be served immediately, so wait until the last minute to make it.
To serve, allow the tart to cool for a few minutes before serving with the ice cream of your choice.
Recipe Tips
Any tinned or fresh fruit would work well, peaches or pears for example.
Remove the almond if you have a nut allergy.
You could buy vanilla ice cream and top with the breadcrumbs, cinnamon and sugar.
Use any flavoured yoghurt in the banana ice cream, even fruit yoghurts.
The riper the better for the bananas.