Le Manceau (almond Cream Tart)

-CREME PATISSIERE-
2 Eggs
50 g Sugar
75 g Sifted flour
250 ml Milk
65 ml Rum

-CREME D’AMANDES-
125 g Butter
125 g Icing sugar
125 g Ground almonds
2 Eggs

-GLAZE-
75 g Apricot jam; sieved
2 tb Rum
4 tb Icing sugar

-QUELLE-
— French Country Cooking
— The Roux Brothers
— PAPERMAC 1992
— ISBN 0-333-57670-5
— Typed by Rene Gagnaux

(for: 1 flan ring, about 22cm/9in diameter, 4cm/1 1/2in deep)

This rich and creamy tart from Le Mans should be eaten as soon as
possible after cooking while it is still very fresh: it is very
important to get the cooking just right to produce a soft, creamy
tart!

The pastry: on a lightly floured marble or wooden surface, roll out
the pastry to a thickness of 2-3 mm. Butter the flan ring, place it
on the baking sheet and line with the pastry. Refrigerate for 30
minutes.

The creme patissiere: put the egg yolks and about one-third of the
sugar in a bowl and whisk until they are pale and leave a slight
trail when you lift up the whisk. Sift in the flour and mix well. Put
the milk and the remaining sugar in a saucepan and bring to the boil.
As soon as the milk begins to bubble, pour about one-third on to the
egg mixture, stirring continuously. Pour the mixture back into the
pan, and cook very gently, stirring continuously. Boil gently for 2
minutes until the custard thicken, then pour it into a bowl. Flake a
little butter or sprinkle some icing sugar over the surface to
prevent a skin forming as the custard cools. When it is nearly cold,
stir in the rum.

The creme d’amandes: cream the butter in a food processor until very
soft. Still beating, work in the mixture of icing sugar and ground
almonds, sifted together, then add the eggs one at a time, beating
well between each addition, until the mixture is smooth and light.

Preheat the oven to 180 oC (350 oF).

The filling: before the creme patissiere becomes completely cold,
beat in the almond cream with a wire whisk. Pour the mixture into the
pastry case.

Bake the tart for 50 minutes, taking care not to left it brown to
much. Leave in the flan ring on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then
remove the ring and slide the tart on to a cooling rack.

Increase the oven temperature to 250 oC (500 oF).

Glazing the tart: when the tart is completely cold, heat the apricot
jam in a saucepan, brush it thinly and evenly over the tart and leave
to set. Meanwhile mix the rum and icing sugar to make a transparent,
slightly syrupy glaze. Brush this over the apricot glaze and place
the tart in the very hot oven for 30 seconds to harden the glaze.