I have not made a lot of different apricot cakes in my life. When I was a child, I made a German Sunken Apricot cake every apricot season. It was a recipe from my children's cook book; and the cake was a simple cake batter with apricots halves that were sunken in the cake batter. The cake was good but not excellent and nowadays I am a little bit a lot more ambitious regarding cakes. However, it does not mean that I do not appreciate simple cakes which are often very delicious but I want to be become more creative with textures and flavor combinations. 
After a few trials and error,  I created these scrumptious apricot tartlets and I want to share the recipe in today's blog post. I think you won't be surprised that the little apricot cakes consist of different layers, textures and flavors. The different components of the cakes take a bit of time. However, it is totally worth the time and you can also make the different steps of the recipe on different days and then it does not seem such a time consuming recipe. 

The base of these apricot cakes is a tartlet that is filled with an almond filling and a white chocolate crémeux infused with lemon thyme. The tartlets are topped with an apricot jelly which is the highlight of the cake. The apricots are infused with lemon thyme. I have not used lemon thyme in cooking or baking but lemon thyme is such a wonderful herb that I want to incooperate more in cooking and baking. Preparing the apricot jelly is my favorite part - besides putting the final touches of the cake - of making these petite cakes. When cooking the apricots, infused with the lemon thyme and a little bit of vermouth wine (I use Noilly Prat), the kitchen smells incredible. The combination of apricots, lemon thyme and Noilly Prat is a match made in heaven. When baking, I sparingly use alcohol since I think alcohol is often too overpowering. As a result one can only taste the alcohol but in the case of the apricot jelly the white wine compliments the apricot flavor very well. 
Enough of my rambling, I do hope you will like my little apricot tartlets as much as I do. 


Makes 8 tartlets (8 cm / 3 inches in diameter)

APRICOT JELLY

  • 200 g / 1 cup and 1 tablespoon apricots, peeled and cored
  • 45 g / 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 10 ml / 2 teaspoons vermouth, preferable Noilly Prat
  • 35 ml / 2 1/2 tablespoons water
  • 2 branches of lemon thyme
  • 1 1/2 leaves / 2,2 g gelatin, soaked
  • Cut the apricots into 1 cm / 0,4 inch cubes. 
  • Place the sugar in a medium sized saucepan. Caramelize the sugar. Remove from the heat when golden in color (make sure the sugar gets not too dark, otherwise it tastes bitter), add the apricot cubes and mix well and add the lemon thyme branches. Cover the saucepan with a lit and let the mixture infuse for about 10 to 15 minutes. 
  • Remove the lemon thyme. Add the white wine and the water to the apricot mixture. Let the mixture simmer for 5 minutes or until the apricots are soft. Remove from the heat, add the gelatin and mix well. Pour the apricot mixture into 8 silicon moulds ( 8 cm / 3 inches in diameter). I use muffin silicon moulds which I will 1/3 with the apricot jelly. 
  • Freeze the moulds for at least three hours. 

TARTLET SHELLS

  • You will need 8 unbaked tartlets (8 cm / 3 inches in diameter). My tartlet recipe is here. 

ALMOND FILLING

  • 35 g / 2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, soft
  • 35 g / 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 55 g egg / equals 1 large egg
  • 35 g / 1/3 cup almond flour
  • Preheat the oven to 175 °C / 347 °F.
  • Add the butter and sugar into a small bowl. Beat the mixture until creamy. Add the egg to the mixture and mix well again. Add the almond flour and mix until smooth. 
  • Evenly divide the almond filling into the unbaked tartlet moulds. Do not fill the tartlets more than 1/3. 
  • Bake the the tartlets for 15 to 20 minutes. 
  • Let the tartlets cool completely.

WHITE CHOCOLATE LEMON THYME CREMEUX

  • 100 g / 1/3 cup and 1 tablespoon heavy cream
  • 100 g / 1/3 cup and 1 tablespoon milk
  • 4 branches of lemon thyme
  • 30 g egg yolks / equals egg yolk of two medium sized eggs
  • 100 / 2 ounces white chocolate, chopped
  • 1 2/3 / 2,5 g gelatin sheets, soaked
  • Pour the heavy cream and the milk into a medium sized saucepan, add the lemon thyme branches and bring the mixture almost to a boil. Set aside, cover with a lit and let the lemon thyme infuse for 10 minutes. Remove the lemon thyme. 
  • Add the egg yolks into a small bowl. Pour half of the warm milk mixture to the egg yolks and mix well. Pour the egg yolk mixture to the saucepan. Let the mixture cook over medium heat until it has reached 84 °C / 183 °F. Remove from the heat. Add the white chocolate and mix until the chocolate is completely melted. Add the gelatin and stir well again. Pour the mixture through a sieve. Let the crémeux cool to room temperature. 

ASSEMBLING

  • 100 g / 1/3 cup and 1 tablespoon whipped cream, filled in a piping bag fitted with a round nozzle ( 9 mm / 0,3 inch), add a little bit of cream stiffener to the whipped cream
  • Roasted Cinnamon Almonds, my recipe is here (half the recipe)
  • Mint leaves
  • Fill the tartlet shells with the lemon thyme crémeux and level out the surface.
  • Unmould the frozen apricot jellies. Place the apricot jellies on top of each tartlet.
  • Pipe dollops of heavy cream around the edges of the tartlet shell. 
  • Before serving the cakes, garnish with caramelized almonds and a mint leave.
  • The tartlets taste the very best on the day of assembling.