French recipes: tarte légère - Telegraph 2 egg yolks 40g apricot jam Jersey cream, to serve Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. Dust your work surface with flour. Roll out the pastry to 2mm thick and cut four circles 14.5cm in diameter from it. Prick them a few times with a fork to stop the pastry rising too much. Peel the apples and cut each one into eight slices. Spread the pastry discs with a very small amount of crème pâtissière. Place the apples on the pastry discs in spirals, leaving round holes in the middle. Beat the egg yolks and gently brush the holes with them. Sprinkle with a touch of caster sugar. Bake the tartes on a baking tray for 15 to 18 minutes. They are ready when the pastry is golden and the apples are soft. Gently warm the jam until it becomes a syrup. Glaze the baked tartes with a small amount of jam. Serve with Jersey cream. Crème pâtissière recipe Makes 400g 4 medium free-range egg yolks 65g caster sugar 20g plain flour 10g cornflour 350ml whole milk ½ tsp vanilla-bean paste Icing sugar, for dusting In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until they turn a pale gold colour. Whisk in the flour and cornflour and set aside. Place the milk and vanilla-bean paste in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Slowly pour half of the hot milk on to the egg mixture, whisking all the time, then add the mixture to the remaining milk in the pan. It is important to slowly pour the hot milk on to the cold eggs before you add the mixture to the pan to prevent the eggs from scrambling. Bring the mixture back to the boil and simmer, whisking continuously, for one minute or until smooth. Pour the cream into a clean bowl and dust with icing sugar to prevent a skin forming. Cool as quickly as possible by sitting the bowl of crème pâtissière in a larger bowl of ice water. When cooled, refrigerate until needed.