- 375g/13oz ready-made sweet shortcrust pastry
- 200g/7oz butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
- 200g/7oz caster sugar
- 3 large free-range eggs
- 200g/7oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 125g/4½oz ground almonds
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 150g/5oz apricot jam, warmed until melted
- 8 fresh apricots, stones removed, cut into quarters
- Preheat the oven to 170C/150C Fan/Gas 3. Grease a 30x23cm/12x9in cake tin with butter and line with baking paper.
- Roll out the pastry onto a lightly floured work surface until it is slightly larger than the cake tin and 0.5cm/¼in thick.
- Roll the pastry onto a rolling pin, then line the cake tin with the pastry, pressing it gently into the corners and trimming away any excess. Chill in the fridge while you make the filling.
- Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl for 5 minutes, until pale, fluffy and well combined. Alternatively, use a free-standing food mixer to do this.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time, waiting until each has been incorporated into the mixture before adding the next.
- Fold in the flour, ground almonds and baking powder.
- Brush the pastry with the warmed apricot jam, then spoon in the filling mixture and smooth the top with a palette knife. Decorate the top of the filling with the apricot halves.
- Bake the tart in the oven for 30-35 minutes, until the filling has risen and is golden-brown, and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean (if it doesn’t, return the bake to the oven for a further 5 minutes). Set aside to cool, in the tin, on a wire rack, then remove from the tin and cut into rectangles to serve.