Plum Frangipane Tart

I was inspired to make this by Thomasina Miers’ recipe in The Guardian’s Feast magazine this Saturday. Thomasina’s tart is topped with cherries and hazelnuts and I have changed the frangipane recipe a little. I make a dessert every Sunday, it’s the only day of the week that we eat a pudding so I always try to make it a bit special. I wanted to film making puff pastry for my upcoming online courses for Veg Patch Kitchen Cookery School so I combined the two. The tart in the photo is made with puff pastry and whilst it was delicious, the weight of the frangipane topping meant that the puff didn’t have chance to expand into its layers so I recommend making shortcrust for this beauty instead. Save your puff pastry for something that really showcases puff at its best.

You can watch how I make the tart in this video:

You can make a sweet shortcrust if you prefer but I prefer the standard version for most desserts.

Ingredients for the shortcrust pastry:
250g plain or pastry flour
125g cold unsalted butter
5g fine salt
50-70g cold water

Ingredients for the Frangipane:
100g softened butter
100g caster sugar
2 eggs
140g ground almonds
75g plain flour

Additions:
Your choice of fruit, nuts and a drizzle of honey. I used plums but you could use anything that you have.

Method for the pastry:
You can make the pastry in a food processor with the cutting blade by placing the flour, salt and butter in the machine and pulsing until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add 50g of water and pulse again until it all comes together, if you need more water add it slowly. Wrap in a food bag or clingfilm and place in the fridge for at least twenty minutes but two hours is better as the gluten relaxes fully making it easier to roll out. 

If you are making it by hand, place the flour and salt in a bowl and mix well. Add the butter and using just your fingertips lightly rub the butter through the flour, picking up new pieces of flour and butter all the time. It requires a light touch. When the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs, with some larger pieces of butter, add 50g of the water and stir through with a knife until starting to come together. Then using your hands (preferably cold) bring the pastry together into a ball. Wrap well in clingfilm or a food bag and place in the fridge.

Method for the frangipane:
Place the softened butter and sugar in a bowl and beat well until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time and beat well between each addition making sure they are well combined. Fold in the flour and ground almonds.

Method for the tart:
Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and preheat your oven to 180 degrees centrigrade, gas mark 4 or use the floor of the Aga’s roasting oven. Roll out the pastry to a rectangle a little smaller than your baking tray and place on the lined tray. Spread the frangipane over the pastry leaving a 4cm edge all the way around. Spread over your choice of fruit or nuts and drizzle with a little honey. Bring the edges of the pastry over a little way to make a rustic looking tart.

Place in the centre of the preheated oven for 40-50 minutes until golden brown all over and the pastry is fully baked. Serve warm or at room temperature with cream, custard or a scoop of ice cream.