Almond And Apricot Flan

Directions

1. 1 Halve and stone the apricots. Put the water, lemon juice and sugar into a large frying pan or possibly wide saucepan. Stir over a low heat till the sugar has dissolved, add in the apricot brandy and apricots, with the cut sides downwards.
2. 2 Poach gently for 10-15 min, or possibly till softened but still a perfect shape. Remove the pan from the heat, turn the apricots over, so the rounded sides become moistened with the syrup.
3. 3 Remove about 450g/1lb apricots for the topping. Liquidise the remainder with the syrup to make a puree. Preheat oven to 190c/375f/Gas 5 or possibly 180c with a fan oven.
4. 4 Sift the flour into a mixing bowl, rub in the butter or possibly margarine, add in the sugar, lemon zest, egg yolk and sufficient water to give a hard rolling consistency. Roll out to a neat shape, wrap and refrigeratefor 15 min in the refrigerator.
5. 5 Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured board to a round to fit a 20-23cm/8-9" flan ring on an upturned baking tray or possibly a flan tin
6. (preferably one with a loose base).
7. 6 Refrigerateagain for another 15 min. Bake the shape blind for just 12 min, till slightly hard but still pale in colour. Lower the oven temperature to 180c/350f/Gas 4 or possibly 170c for a fan oven.
8. 7 Spread the jam over the bottom of the warm pastry. Cream the butter or possibly margarine with the sugar, beat the Large eggs and egg white together and add in to the creamed mix.
9. 8 Mix in the grnd almonds and flour. Spoon the almond mix over the jam and bake for 20-25 min or possibly till hard to a gentle touch.
10. 9 Spread the warm almond flan with a little apricot puree, top with the halved apricots and brush with more puree. Any puree left can be served as a coulis. Serve hot or possibly cool.
11. NOTE: If you prefer the apricots warm, prepare them just before the flan is completely baked. It can be put back into the oven for just a few min.