Cream butter, sugar, salt and vanilla until light and fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time until fully incorporated.
Sift together flour and baking powder, add to butter mixture.
Add milk and blend until smooth.
Work dough on a floured table. Chill until needed - about 2 hours.
Roll out chilled dough to about ¼ inch and press evenly into tart tin. Use a fork to punch holes in the bottom of the shell.
Place in the refrigerator to chill for an additional hour. Weight the dough with pie weights or beans and blind bake until golden brown - about 15 minutes depending on your oven.
To make the cream:
Rinse a saucepan with cold water (this helps to prevent burning).
Add milk and vanilla bean to the saucepan and bring to a simmer.
Mix sugar and cornstarch in a bowl and whisk eggs into the sugar/cornstarch mixture.
Pour some of the warm milk into the egg mixture to temper before adding to the saucepan. Add the egg mixture to the saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
Pour the cream into a stainless steel bowl and cover immediately with plastic. Plastic should touch the surface of the cream to prevent a skin from forming. Do not stir while cooling, it will cause the cream to thin. (For a Frenched cream, add whipped cream.)
Assembly:
Use a pastry brush to cover the inside bottom of the shell with melted chocolate. This keeps the crust from getting soggy.
Whip the cooled pastry cream and smooth onto the layer of chocolate with a pallet knife.
Arrange fruit(s) of your choosing to cover the cream.
Glaze fruit with heated apricot glaze. You may choose to cover the sides with sliced almonds, or sprinkle onto fruit.