Here’s a delightful tart recipe for you to make for a fancy dessert or just for eating when the mood hits you. It’s been adapted from Yossy Areffi – Apt. 28 Baking Co. Remember those almond croissants (yes from Paris) I wrote about earlier, well in addition to almonds on top of the croissant, the centers were filled with Frangipane. Frangipane is a moist delightful almond filling which lends itself to a myriad of applications. Pictured below, I made these tarts in individual tart tins (although they are really big portions for such a rich dessert), with toppings like raspberry, blackberry, thinly quartered apple and grapes. An addition to the original post today (June 13th), I made a large tart today and while the crust was enough to cover the 10″ tart pan, the filling needed to be doubled. Again, a really simple, elegant dessert to make. This time I used pears – new picture added today.
The nice thing about the filling is that as it rises, it engulfs whatever you put on top of it. Sometimes it completely engulfs the topping and this ends up being a nice surprise when you bite or cut into it and find the treasure within. You can dust it with icing sugar if you like, I prefer it just like this. No matter, this takes about 1 hour in total (which includes chilling and baking time). One processor to clean up – that’s it. I got 7 x 3” diameter tart tins from this recipe and enough filling to fill them to just below the rim. So do try it when you get some time. You and your family will love it! (These are not for my “nut-allergic” nephews – sorry guys!). As always – enjoy!
Ingredients – Pastry
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup icing sugar
1/2 tsp salt
9 tbsp unsalted butter, cubed
1 egg yolk (save the white for the filling below)
2 tbsp cold water
Frangipane
6 tbsp butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup ground almonds
1 egg plus one egg white (from the above egg)
2 tsp flour
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
1 pinch salt
For the pastry
In a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar and salt to blend the ingredients (remember, this is pastry not pate – go easy on the mixing please)
Add the butter and again pulse to make a “crumby” mixture
Add the egg yolk and pulse again to mix
Add the water and pulse just until it starts to form a dough – note the color change on the side of the processor bowl, it’s also a good indicator of when to stop pulsing – when pinched, the mixture should stay together
Using a large tart pan or individual tart tins, lightly butter (unless non-stick) the insides, press the dough into the pan ensuring you have dough that comes to the top of the tin
Put the tin(s) on a lipped baking tray and freeze for 30 minutes
In the meantime, make the frangipane
Using the same processor – you don’t need to wash it out, combine the softened butter and sugar and pulse until it forms a smooth paste
Add the ground almonds and pulse until well combined
Add the cornstarch and flour, pulse – add the egg and egg white, pulse – add the vanilla and almond extracts and the salt, stir to combine
Pre-heat your oven to 375F
Remove the tart from the freezer and bake for 10 minutes – rotate the pan accordingly if your oven has hot spots (and it does) – tarts should be golden in color, they will bake some more so it doesn’t need to be fully baked – If the tarts are rising as they bake, using a large tablespoon, gently press down on the bubble to deflate, continue baking until done
Lower the heat to 350F
Let the tart(s) cool on the cookie sheet – about 10 minutes
Stir the frangipane and pour into the tart tin(s) to just below the lip
Add the fruit, don’t push it into the frangipane, it will be covered as the frangipane rises around it, not a bad thing but it looks prettier when you can see the tops of the berries in the baked tartBake for 25 – 30 minutes – tarts should be golden brown – they will rise while baking, then fall a bit while cooling – it’s okay, it does that, it’s not you it’s the tart
When cooled, dust with icing sugar (completely optional – I only did it for photography purposes).
