frangipane fruit tart

The warmer springtime weather got me thinking about fresh fruits of the season. Strawberries are sweeter now and their bright red color was quite striking with the spring green color of the grapes. With the almond flour I have stored in the freezer, I thought it would be a good idea to try to make frangipane tart once again.

I still used our small toaster oven so the tart shell turned extra crispy with a rustic look

I made this many years ago and never did get a chance to make it again. It was too late when I found out that my tart pan was too big for the toaster oven. I had the dough all rolled out and ready to bake in the tart pan. I had to peel it off the pan to transfer it to a regular cake pan and that wasn't easy at all. The baked tart shell turned out crispy but I thought I may have overbaked the frangipane. However, the next day, it actually turned out better as the ground almonds blended with the custard. This must be one of the easiest tart fillings to make. Using the almond flour was a convenient time-saver since it skipped the grinding process. All that was needed to be done was to combine the almond flour with the butter, vanilla and egg. Spoon the filling into the tart shell then bake for about 40 minutes. In the toaster oven, I had to cover the tart with aluminum foil to prevent it from browning too much.

For the recipe...


FRANGIPANE FRUIT TART

TART SHELL for a 9-10" tart pan with removable bottom:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

8 tablespoons or 1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 eggyolk

Combine flour and sugar. Cut in the cold butter until the butter is evenly distributed. If needed, sprinkle iced water a tablespoon at a time until mixture comes together. Press into the tart pan. Prebake for about 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned.

CUSTARD FILLING:

3 oz almond flour or finely ground almonds

1/3 cup sugar

4 tablespoons or 1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened

1 egg

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon all purpose flour

Combine and mix almond flour and sugar in a food processor. Add the butter, egg, vanilla and flour. Blend well. Spoon and evenly spread on the baked tart shell. Bake for about 40 minutes or until set. Cool.

the frangipane before topping with the fresh fruits

TOPPING:

1/4 cup warm apricot jelly

assorted fresh fruits like strawberries, kiwi, blackberries, blueberries, mango, grapes etc.

Spread the warm jelly on the frangipane tart. Arrange the sliced fruits on top. Brush the fruits with more warm jelly. Sprinkle with powdered sugar at serving time.