Plum Frangipane Tart with an almond cream (frangipane) filling and poached plums. A beautiful buttery crust dessert. Such a treat! If you can get some plums please do me a favor, no do yourself a favor and make this plum frangipane tart because it is quite simply, beautiful.
I made this recipe a few months back and never got to posting it on my blog and this was during our summer months. Plums are one of the fruit that's in it's prime during December, January and February which is seasonal in South Africa and the result was this truly delicious tart that turned out to be pure perfection both in timing and taste.
I love a good slice of tart but I think this might be the best tart that I've ever tasted. I am not saying that it will be for you too although I hope so. Eating this crumbed textured cake reminded me of a different time, a time when drinking tea and eating cake was still highly fashionable.
I was skipping breakfast, well not skipping breakfast, more like substituting breakfast for this plum frangipane tart because it was just so good! No judging because you will do the same when you make it.
PLUM FRANGIPANE TART
POACHING THE PLUMS
What does poaching mean and do you have to poach the plums before using them on this tart?
Very simple answers: No you don't have to poach the plums you can add them directly onto the tart after prepping them (de-stoning them and cutting). I poached them because when I see seasonal fruit I put it on simmer, why? I love the simmer in the house with the spices and herbs what can I say.
WHAT DOES POACHING MEAN
Poaching is a gentle means of simmering with a little water and that refers to fruit in a little liquid, It simmers not boils and this process is what is referred to as poaching. Fruit in a little type of syrup (like a sugar) and perhaps some wine and spices is the perfect example of fruit poaching.
WHAT IS FRANGIPANE?
It's an almond filling that you spread onto a tart and it's made with eggs, butter, sugar and either almond flour or almond meal (almond flour is finer) but both work. I added my own extra ingredients into this mix and that was the ingredient that changed the whole cake for me! It was next level incredible.
In other news - Frangipane is one of France's many traditional foods associated with Christmas celebration but the word frangipane/frangipani is derived from frangere il pane ( Italian for "that breaks the bread"). The real meaning of this however I shared on my Instagram last week.
I have seen a lot of this frangipane tarts everywhere and they were a huge contributing factor of inspiration to this tart. From Merry Berry Marzipan to Nigella's Bakewell Tart and Bon Appétit!
HOW TO MAKE THIS FRANGIPANE TART
Let's start with the pastry, really the most important part since it's the foundation of your tart.
SUGGESTIONS
- Use your hands as little as possible so no fiddling with pastry because the less you fiddle the greater the chances of a successful pastry.
- Keep the butter as cold as possible till the last second when you use it.
- Work quickly and swiftly to get a dough, wrap it in plastic wrap and get it into the fridge to set.
I should've made this tart now in our winter months because it's colder and the butter stays like an ice cube quite frankly 🙂 but the plums were so gorgeous at that time! If you're in your summer months and want to make this frangipane tart simply leave the butter in the fridge until the last minute that you need it.
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PASTRY
- TIP: Being that it was our much warmer months when I made this tart I got my butter out and cut what I needed then kept it in the freezer for a while to get really cold, not frozen, just cold. Transfer it to the fridge when you start the recipe and again for a minute of quick freezing before you use it. The butter must be very cold because it makes the most perfect crust!
- Once you've given your pastry a whizz in the food processor you wrap it and let it rest in the fridge. This is where the butter will harden while it rests in the fridge and the minute it hits the oven it will melt and then....say hello flaky pasty! Because that's how you get yourself a flaky pastry so don't skip the pastry resting part!
- It take 5 minutes in the food processor to make this pastry.
Let's get to the filling while pastry is chilling. Haha I just saw that :)! You're never too old to find yourself funny too 🙂
FILLING INGREDIENTS
Use a whisk first and then change to a spatula and fold the rest of the ingredients in. See the recipe card below.
Once you have the pastry in the fridge and the filling is done its then time to roll out the pastry. Good times because now we get to bake it!
Take the pastry out the fridge, flour the surface you are going to roll it on. Press the dough slightly with the palm of your hand to gently flatten it. Take a rolling pin and roll out the pastry into a circle.
BAKING PREP
- Once you have the pastry rolled into a circle place the rolling pin on the pastry
- Roll it over once, lift and move it to the top of the mold (baking tin) gently roll the pastry over.
- Use your finger to gently press it inside.
- Place the rolling pin over the tin and roll it over the edges so it automatically cuts the dough off
- Take a fork and poke into the base of the tart.
BAKING BEANS
- Pour the beans, you supposed to use baking beans but I don't have them so I use regular beans and they get the job done! Pour them into the paper so the beans will be over the baking paper and the paper on the tart.
- Bake. This is called blind baking and it's important because it pre helps relieve any build up of steam, the pastry crust to cooks evenly throughout and it also prevents the bottom from perhaps becoming soggy.
- Measure and cut out baking paper to fit into the tin. If you want to know how to use the triangle cut that you see in the images below take a look at this article. That's where I saw it but to be honest, it's not a long term solution so I've since cut out a board and just measure on there each time.
WHAT FRUIT TO USE IN A FRANGIPANE TART
You can really use so many types of fruit and here I used the beautiful seasonal plums at the time. What's the difference with seasonal and not seasonal and why buy in season?
- More nutrition
- More flavorful, sweeter and juicier
- Much more affordable
- Natural produce in terms of ripening etc.
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FRUIT THAT YOU COULD USE
- plums (and you don't have to necessarily poach them either but that's a preference)
- raspberries
- pears
- apples
- strawberries are especially pretty on the smaller ones
- blueberries and just about any seasonal fruit.
FRANGIPANE ALMOND FILLING
Now that we that the filling is done and the pastry blind baked we add the frangipane creamed filling. So good! The plums can go directly onto the filling and the tart baked or you can add a plum sauce or jam over the filling. Not sure if you can call it a plum sauce because is something I whipped up on the day to create a bit of contrast.
Fill the tart shell.
How close are we to baking? Very close!
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HOW TO STORE THIS TART
You can lightly cover it in plastic wrap (just over the top) and leave it in the fridge I would suggest for no longer than 2 to 3 days? Thereafter you most probably would have to freeze it in a freezer container or freezer wrapping. I have not had to freeze this tart so that's a suggestion,
MORE DESSERT RECIPES
- Creamy No-Bake Mango Cheesecake
- Easy Pecan Nut Chocolate Cheesecake
- Mini Pavlovas
- Crème Fraiche and Fresh Berries
- Mixed Fruit Pavlova Recipe
I hope that you have enjoyed my Plum Frangipane Tart! Give it a try @anosmickitchen #anosmickitchen remember the kitchen is about creativity. If you try this recipe be sure to leave me a comment and rating below! Thank you.
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Frangipane Plum Tart
Ingredients
Poached Plums
- 6 Plums pitted and halved
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 fresh lemon and zest
- vanilla essence
Short Crust Pastry
- 250 grams cake flour 1 ½ cups
- 100 grams icing sugar ¼ cup
- 125 grams unsalted cold butter
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- Pinch of salt
- Dash of milk about 2 tablespoons
Frangipane Filling
- 200 grams almond flour
- 150 grams unsalted butter
- 100 grams castor sugar
- 2 eggs
- salt pinch
- ⅓ cup almond flakes
Instructions
How to poach the plums
- Add the plums into a large wide base pan followed by all the ingredients - sugar, cinnamon, lemon juice, zest and the actual squeezed lemon halves and the essence. Allow to heat up on high then drop the heat to a low simmer and cook until the plums are soft to your liking. If the liquid runs out and you want them a little more soft with more syrup, just keep them on simmer and keep adding a drop of kettle water until done.
Short Crust Pastry
- Add all the ingredients into a food processor, pulse to combine, take it out, form a solid ball, wrap in cling wrap and leave in the fridge to set for an hour. While the crust is in the fridge you can get started on the filling.
- After an hour, on a floured surface roll the dough out, get your pan mold to measure more or less how big you want it and make slightly bigger than that to give you room to have it on the inside edges. Using the rolling pin, lift the dough and place it into the baking tin. Use your fingers to gently press it up on the sides and then use the rolling pin to roll over the top of the pan, it magically cuts the edges (top bits) off for you.Get a fork and poke holes into the base of the crust to avoid any steam from building up underneath and lifting it up into a puffed up crust.
- Blind bake the crust by cutting out a circular piece of baking paper to fit the inside of the pan. Or crumble the paper (squash it prevents it from moving up and down) into a ball and then open it out and fit it into the tin. Pour the beans (or baking weights) on top of the parchment paper into the crust. Gently press them against the bottom and bake on 180 C for 10 minutes and then remove the beans (carefully they will be hot!) and bake it again for 2 minutes. Set it aside. Return the crust to the oven without the beans for 5 minutes. Take it out and get ready to fill.
Frangipane Filling
- In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar. Use an electric hand held mixer/stand mixer or by hand. Add the 2 eggs and beat them in. Add the almond flour and fold it in using a spatula. Add the coconut flakes and fold them in with a spatula.
- Fill the tart shell with the filling.
- Pour the plum sauce (or jam) over the filling, optional.
- Arrange the poached plums on top
- Sprinkle crushed almonds and use a teaspoon to add whatever syrup you have from poaching the plums as a drizzle.
- Return to the oven and bake on 180 C for about 25 to 30 minutes.
- Sprinkle shaved almonds and plum syrup over before serving.
Nutrition
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