Apricot Galettes with Amaretto

Galettes are very thin discs of flaky pastry which, unlike conventional tarts, have no sides. The concept is a good one because the pastry is barely there, yet it gives a light, very crisp background to all kinds of toppings, both savoury and sweet. There's no limit to what you can put on top of them – the combinations are endless, and you can serve them for a light lunch, as a first course, on a picnic or for a dessert. What I often do is freeze the pastry circles raw, interleaved with foil or greaseproof paper, so you can just whip some out for an impromptu meal any old time at all. If you don't have the right-sized cutter, just cut around a saucer of the same size. Dried apricots are great for this in the winter, but in summer it's also good with fresh apricots, in which case you'll need the same quantity of small apricots, halved and stoned.

Method

Make the pastry and chill for 30 minutes in the fridge. Then roll the pastry out on a lightly floured surface to 1/8 inch (3 mm), cut out six 4 inch (10 cm) discs and place these on the baking sheets. Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to gas mark 7, 425°F (220°C).

Now cut the apricots in half, and if you are using fresh ones, remove the stone, then place 9 apricot halves on each round of pastry, topped by a few almond slivers (if using). Sprinkle a teaspoon of amaretto over each one, then sprinkle them all with the demerara sugar.

Bake for 10-12 minutes in the oven, one tray on the highest shelf, the other on the next one down, until the pastry is crisp and brown and the apricots have browned and caramelised a little at the edges, swapping the baking sheets over halfway through. Serve straight from the oven, sprinkled with icing sugar and the chilled crème fraîche, or leave to cool.