-THE FILLING-
1/2 c Prunes; pitted 1 ts Orange rind
2 tb Armagnac 1 tb Lemon juice
1 c Seedless Lexia raisins 2 tb Orange juice
1 c Water 3 tb Butter
1/4 c Brown sugar
-THE ALMOND CREAM-
1/3 c Unsalted butter 2 Eggs
1/2 c Almonds; ground 1 tb Rum
1/2 c Icing sugar 2 tb Pastry flour
THE PASTRY
1 Chilled unbaked 9″ pastry 4 Prunes; pitted and sliced
-shell prepared previously -for garnish
-in a French tart pan.
Soak prunes in Armagnac overnight. Puree coarsely in a processor or
blender. Set aside.
Combine raisins, water, brown sugar and orange peel in a stainless
steel saucepan. Cover; bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 10
min or until raisins are soft. With a slotted spoon remove raisins;
set aside. Add lemon and orange juices to pan and uncovered cook down
to a syrup, about 3 tb. Remove from heat and whisk in butter, prune
puree and the soaked raisins.
For the almond creme, in a separate bowl cream butter until fluffy.
Beat in ground almonds and icing sugar. Whip in eggs, one at a time,
beating hard after each addition. Stir in rum and flour. Spread prune
filling on bottom of the tart shell, smoothing the top. Cover evenly
with the almond cream and garnish with slices of pitted prunes. Bake
in preheated 375 deg oven for 30 min or until a skewer inserted onto
the centre comes out clean. Let cool and serve with a scoop of
Armagnac ice cream. [ See next recipe.]
From the L’Ordre de Bon Temps menu in Northern Bounty, A Celebration
of Canadian Cuisine.
Yields
8 servings