Sunny-Side-Up Apricot Pastries

A few weeks ago I was watching Baking with Julia on PBS and Michel Richard (an award-winning, French-born chef, who currently owns two restaurants in the Washington D.C. area - Citronelle and Carmel) was making all kinds of delicious treats with puff pastry dough (pâte feuilletée). I wish I could claim I make my own puff pastry dough, I have tried, but I need more practice, so for now I buy frozen puff pastry - I recommend Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry. Of all the things he made, these apricot treats really caught my eye and I knew I had to make them. They are so easy to make it doesn't seem right and once you learn the basics the possible variations are endless. I think cherries would be a particularly good alternative to apricots. Finally, apricots are in peak season during the late spring and throughout most of the summer. If you can't find in-season apricots you can substitute peaches or pears.

Makes 8 pastries

Ingredients:
8 apricots, washed, pitted, and halved
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
One batch of vanilla pastry cream
2 sheets frozen puff pastry dough (1 box), thawed
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup apricot jam/preserves
1 tablespoon water

Start by poaching the apricots. Combine 2 cups water, 1 cup sugar and lemon juice in a medium sauce pot and bring to a soft boil. Add the apricots and simmer on low for 8 minutes. Remove from heat and let the apricots cool completely in the poaching liquid. After cool, drain apricots, discarding liquid, and pat dry. Set aside.

Make the pastry cream. See above link for recipe. Make sure pastry cream in cool before using.

Preheat oven to 350F. On lightly floured surface roll the first sheet of dough to ¼-inch thickness. Cut four 4-inch rounds. Repeat with the second sheet of dough. Throughout, keep the dough you are not working with covered.

Clean any remaining flour from work surface and pour 1 cup of sugar on to surface. Place the first pastry round on top of the sugar, dust the top lightly with flour and role into an 8-inch oval, leaving the ends a little thicker than the center. Brush off the flour and place on a baking sheet sugar side up. Repeat with remaining 7 rounds. Do not crowd the pastries on the baking sheet, use two sheets instead or if you only have one baking sheet keep half the dough covered while you prepare the recipe in halves.

Place a walnut-sized dollop of pastry cream in the center of each pastry. Place two apricot halves on top of the cream. Bake for 35 minutes until pastry is golden brown.

While pastries are baking make the glaze. Combine the jam and water and bring just to a boil. Strain to remove solids and keep warm.

Remove pastries from oven, transfer to a cooling rack, brush with glaze and sprinkle with sugar (optional). Serve the same day you make the pastries.

Bon appetit!