Isn’t it lovely when friends share food? Recently my great Ibiza friend Camilla Ham invited me around to her house to pick the bounty of apricots growing in her garden and with the aid of her gorgeous boys Liam and Hayden we had a fun morning picking these little beauties.

I came home laden with baskets brimming with the fruit and decided to go a bit apricot crazy.

I stuffed an organic pork fillet with them, roasted garlic and pistachios then wrapped it in Iberico ham – just delicious. Then for dessert I made this lovely tart (inspired by a recipe I saw last year in BBC Good Food Magazine). I have large jars of Ibicencan almonds that grow in abundance here which I have ground down in my Nutri Bullet for using in dessert and cake recipes – but of course you can use pre packed ground almonds. I am a true sucker for almondy frangipane, it’s a nostalgic taste that takes me back to the divine cherry bakewells my talented grandmother used to make for us as children. I have used puff pastry as opposed to short crust purely because I had some in my fridge – it worked well because it gave it a lighter buttery texture (and also saved me from making the pastry!).

And with the addition of sweet apricots and the caramelised chewiness from the slightly hot stem ginger, it’s a real winner – delicious served warm with a dollop of crème fraiche with vanilla paste and a splash of amaretto. It’s a perfect dessert for all seasons – the recipe can be easily adapted with stoned cherries, fresh figs, raspberries or pears. Have a play around with different combinations!

Ingredients (serves 6-8)

Pre made puff pastry
100g butter, softened
100g golden caster sugar (or coconut sugar)
2 free eggs (plus an extra one for egg washing)
140g ground almonds
70g spelt flour
1 teaspoon vanilla paste (or good quality vanilla essence)
1 teaspoon almond essence
8 -10 apricots, stoned and quartered
Handful of caramelised stem ginger
A little butter for dotting over the tart
Apricot jam to glaze

To serve & decorate

Pouring cream, crème fraîche with a splash of amaretto (optional)
Add a scattering of flowers. I used bougainvillea as it’s growing in my garden and pansies that I picked in Spring and have dried

Method

1. Heat oven to 180C. Grease and flour loose-bottomed tart tin, roll out the pastry and gently place into the tart tin – press the pastry up the sides of the tin and chill for 30 mins while you make the filling

2. To make the frangipane filling beat the butter until creamy using an electric whisk then add the sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs one by one beating well after each addition. Stir in the almonds, flour, ginger and vanilla paste and almond essence

3. Spoon the frangipane into the tart case and smooth with a spoon. Place the apricots into the frangipane in and upright flower shaped position. In a cup beat an egg with a splash of milk then brush it around the edge of the pastry case. Dot the apricots with a little butter and transfer to the oven and bake for 35 mins check after about 25 mins and loosely cover with foil if the tart starting to over colour (but it’s nice if the apricots caramelise a little bit)

4. Leave the tart to cool in the tin for 10 mins then transfer to a wire rack. In a small pan heat a tablespoon of apricot jam with little bit of water and glaze the tart with it. Serve warm or cold, dusted with icing sugar and with a dollop of crème fraîche mixed with vanilla paste a glug of amaretto…seriously scrummy