Apricot and Pistachio Tart With Bordier Lemon-Olive Oil Butter

This is the tart that proves Bordier's lemon-olive oil butter belongs in pastry, not just on bread. A thin Breton crust carries pistachio pastry cream and apricot halves roasted cut side down in sugar until they caramelize. The lemon and olive oil in the butter cut straight through the sugar and give the whole thing a savory edge. Bordier rates it as advanced, and they are right: plan on 30 minutes of preparation, two hours of chilling for the dough, and about 30 minutes of oven time across two temperatures.

Why this works

Bordier made the lemon-olive oil butter in 2009 at a chef's request: butter worked on the wooden malaxeur with lemon-infused extra-virgin olive oil. It is the most savory butter in the range and the least obviously suited to dessert, which is exactly why it works here. Apricots roasted in sugar go very sweet very fast, and pastry cream is sweet again. The lemon keeps the crust bright, and the olive oil gives it a faintly grassy, almost salty finish that stops the tart from reading as one flat note of sugar.

The crust is Breton style, which means it lines only the bottom of the pan and never climbs the sides. It is rolled thin, chilled a second time after rolling, then baked flat. The result is closer to a large shortbread than to a pastry shell, and it stays crisp under the custard because the custard is piped on cold and stopped short of the edge. Roasting the apricots cut side down on a bed of sugar is the other half of the technique: the sugar melts into a caramel directly against the fruit, so the halves hold their shape instead of collapsing into a puree.

Ingredients

Bordier's quantities for a tart serving six, with US measures alongside. The three sugar quantities are given as a single line in the original; see our note in the tips below on where each one goes.

Ingredient	Metric	US
Bordier lemon-olive oil butter	225 g	1 cup
Sugar, in three quantities	200 g, 60 g and 100 g	7 oz, 4 tbsp and 3½ oz
Egg yolks	90 g	⅓ cup
Whole eggs	2	2
Flour	300 g	10½ oz, about 2¼ cups
Salt	5 g	A pinch
Baking powder	12 g	2½ tsp
Milk	300 g	10½ oz, about 1¼ cups
Heavy cream, at least 35% butterfat	50 g	1¾ oz, about 3½ tbsp
Corn starch	20 g	1⅓ tbsp
Pistachio paste (Bordier uses Sevarom)	25 g	5 tsp
Apricots, pitted	500 g	17½ oz
Unsalted pistachios, chopped	To taste	To taste

Method

Step 1: Make the crust dough

Knead the lemon-olive oil butter with the sugar. Work in the egg yolks until the mixture is even, then fold in the flour, salt and baking powder. Bring the dough together, roll it into a ball, wrap it in plastic and refrigerate it for 2 hours.

Step 2: Make the pistachio custard

Scald the milk, then add the sugar and the cream, making sure the cream is at least 35% butterfat. Separately, beat the eggs, then whisk in the corn starch and cold milk. When the milk in the pan begins to simmer, pour the egg, corn starch and milk mixture into it slowly. Cover the finished custard with plastic wrap pressed directly onto the surface and refrigerate. Once it is cold, stir in the pistachio paste.

Step 3: Bake the crust and pipe the custard

Roll the dough out as thinly as you can. Cut a disk the diameter of a greased straight-sided tart pan or baking ring. This is a Breton crust, so it covers only the base of the pan and not the sides. Heat the oven to 180°C / 350°F. Chill the rolled dough for 15 minutes, then bake it for 15 minutes, until it is as brown and crisp as you want it. Let it cool before turning it out of the mold, carefully, because it will be quite brittle. Fill a piping bag fitted with a wide plain nozzle with the cold custard and pipe it over the crust in a spiral, leaving 1 cm / ¾ inch bare at the edge.

Step 4: Roast the apricots and finish

Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Scatter a generous layer of sugar over it and set the pitted apricot halves cut side down on the sugar. Bake at 220°C / 425°F and take them out once the cut faces have lightly caramelized in the sugar. Let them cool. Arrange the apricots on the custard cut side up, working from the center outward. Bordier's own tip: set a peeled pistachio in the hollow of each apricot half, and pile the chopped pistachios in the middle of the tart.

Tips from our kitchen

• Sort the three sugars before you start. The original lists 200 g, 60 g and 100 g on one line without saying which is which. Our reading, and how we bake it: 200 g in the crust, 60 g in the custard, and the 100 g as the bed of sugar under the apricots. That is our guidance, not Bordier's instruction, so weigh them into three bowls and label them.
• The apricot roasting time is not stated. Bordier tells you to pull them when the cut faces have caramelized. In our kitchen that lands around 12 to 15 minutes at 220°C / 425°F for ripe apricots, but watch the fruit rather than the clock.
• Work the butter cool, not soft. Around 16°C / 60°F is right. If the lemon-olive oil butter goes greasy and shiny while you knead, the dough will spread in the oven and the crust will be tough rather than short.
• Press the plastic onto the custard surface. If it hovers above, condensation drips back in and you get a watery skin that will not pipe cleanly. Add the pistachio paste only once the custard is fully cold, so the paste does not split.
• Chill the rolled disk before baking. Skipping the 15 minutes in the refrigerator is the single most common reason a Breton crust shrinks and buckles.
• Assemble late. The crust starts to soften within an hour or two of meeting the custard. Bake and pipe on the day you plan to serve it.

How to serve it

Serve it at room temperature, cut with a sharp knife wiped clean between slices, with strong coffee or a glass of chilled Coteaux du Layon. It is a good tart to follow a light summer dinner rather than a heavy one. If the Breton crust technique appeals to you, the same butter-forward approach shows up in our Madagascar vanilla butter brioche, which is a gentler introduction to baking with flavored Bordier butter.

Where to buy Bordier Lemon-Olive Oil Butter in the US

The French Pantry ships Bordier butter across the United States in insulated overnight packaging, straight from the workshop in Brittany.

• Churned Lemon-Olive Oil Butter by Bordier (4.4 oz): hand-churned butter worked with lemon-infused extra-virgin olive oil, made for a chef in 2009.

To see the rest of the range, browse the Maison Bordier collection.

Frequently asked questions

How much Bordier butter do I need to buy?

Our blocks are 4.4 oz / 125 g. This tart calls for 225 g, so buy two blocks. You will have about 25 g left, which is enough to butter a slice of toast and see what the butter tastes like on its own.

Can I use a different Bordier butter?

Yuzu butter is the closest substitute and keeps the citrus against the apricots. Madagascar vanilla butter takes the tart in a sweeter, rounder direction and works well with pistachio. Unsalted butter makes a perfectly good crust, but you lose the lemon and olive oil that give this version its point.

Can I use canned or frozen apricots?

Fresh is much better here, because the roasting step depends on the fruit holding its shape against the sugar. If you only have frozen apricots, thaw them completely and pat them very dry first, and expect a softer result.

How should I store the butter?

Keep it wrapped in the refrigerator and use it within about two weeks of opening. It freezes well for a few months if you wrap it tightly. Store it away from strong-smelling foods, since butter takes on odors quickly.

Does Bordier butter need refrigeration?

Yes. Bordier butter is a fresh, hand-churned product and ships cold. Put it in the refrigerator as soon as it arrives, and only bring to room temperature the amount you are about to bake with.

How far ahead can I make the components?

The dough keeps two days wrapped in the refrigerator, and the custard keeps two days with plastic pressed onto its surface. Bake the crust and assemble on the day you serve.

Related reading

• Bordier Butter: What It Is, Why Chefs Love It, and How to Use It
• How to Choose Your French Butter: A Buyer's Guide
• Alain Milliat Jams

Recipe and photograph adapted from Maison Bordier, with thanks. The French Pantry is an authorized US retailer of Bordier butter.