Directions

• Mix the flour with the 125 grams of butter that you have cut in small pieces. The butter should be as cold as possible when you prepare the dough. Add the vanilla sugar. Add 2-3 table spoons of ice cold water. Work the dough with very cold hands as quickly as you can until it is a ball that sticks together but does not stick to your hands. Add some water if you feel it is needed. Little by little. Place the dough in a plastic bag and let it to rest for at least an hour in the fridge.
• Place your thick bottomed pan without a handle on the four. Melt the 75 grams of butter and add the sugar. Cut the apricots in halves, take out the pit. Place the halves with the round side down, place it in a circle in the pan. They are going to shrink while heated, so you can also place some additional apricots on top of the others. They will sink in between the others. Let the apricots, the butter and the sugar caramelise in 45 minutes.
• Preheat the oven at 200 degrees.
• Take the dough out of the fridge after an hour. Work it through quickly and then roll it into a nice round patch that fits exactly on top of the pan with the apricots. Make the circle of dough slightly larger in order to be able to press the sides well down.
• Place the cake in the oven for 60 minutes. Check after 45 minutes of the cake, the upside that is, is not getting too brown.
• Take the cake out of the oven after an hour. Now it’s the time to turn the cake upside down. Don’t wait too long to do this otherwise the apricots will stick to the bottom of the pan. Place a large plate on top of the cake and turn it all upside down with a swift movement. Take the pan of gently … and if all went well… tadaaaa … you will have a beautiful golden, shiny and sweet looking Tarte Tatin in front of you.