Frangipane is the sweet filling you find in a Bakewell Tart. Its made from ground almonds, sugar and eggs and you can literally make it in less than 2 mins.
I have made my own Bakewell Tarts using this frangipane recipe many times using short crust pastry, a spoon of cherry jam in the bottom of the pastry cases before adding the frangipane and decorating with icing and glase cherries. But frangipane is so versatile, it will carry most fruits (In fact, I have a lovely recipe for a pear and frangipane tart which I may share with you in the future) so when I saw some gorgeous apricots on offer at the supermarket, I had to pick them up and use them in something sweet and delicious.
Unlike Bakewells, this recipe doesn’t require jam or icing. The filling and fruit is sweet enough, but I do gaze the fruit with a bit of honey which not only makes the fruit look shiny and inviting, it ties all the flavours together and really finishes it off.
I used the recipe for Almond Slices from my ancient cookery book The Dairy Book of Home Cookery (more info on my About page) as my base, but changed the pastry for a Sweet Flan Pastry and altered the number of eggs used. I didn’t want it to taste like a Bakewell without the jam, I wanted to create something new. This recipe is tasty, easy to make and something a little different. Give it a go and let me know what you think.
Ready in 55 mins (5 mins making pastry, 10 mins filling prep, 10 mins make, 25 mins bake, 2 mins glaze) – makes 12 small tarts.
Ingredients
- 1 free range egg yolk
- 2 level teaspoons of sifted icing sugar
- 100g of plain flour
- 70g of salted butter
- Cold water
- 100g of caster sugar
- 100g of sifted icing sugar
- 175g of ground almonds
- 2 free range eggs
- Half a teaspoon of almond essence
- 10-12 fresh cherries
- 2-3 fresh apricots
- Honey to glaze
Method
- Mix together 1 egg yolk with 2 teaspoons of icing sugar. – Pic 1
- Put the flour into a large bowl and add the butter. cut the butter into the flour using a knife then rub them together with your finger tips to make what looks like fine bread crumbs. – Pic 2
- Add the egg yolk and sugar mixture and 2 teaspoons of the cold water and mix well.
- Then get your hands in there and bring the mixture together to form a ball of dough. You want it smooth and firm enough to pick up and form into a ball without it crumbling. Keep adding water a teaspoon at a time until you reach the desired consistency. – Pic 3
- Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge while you make your filling.
- In a large bowl, mix together the caster sugar, icing sugar and ground almonds.
- Add the eggs and almond essence and mix to a stiff paste. This is your frangipane. – Pic 4
- Slice each cherry and apricot in half and remove the stones. Then cut each into very thin slices. – Pic 5
- Preheat oven to 200c / 180c fan / gas mark 6.
- Grease a muffin tray with butter or spray with Fry Light or something similar.
- Roll out your pastry on a lightly floured surface, cut into rounds using a cutter or the floured rim of a glass and press each round into a section of the muffin tray. Make sure you press the pastry into the corners and onto the sides so the pastry is flat against the tin. This will give you a lovely sturdy shape at the end. – Pic 6
- Fill the pastry cases with your frangipane up to, but not over, the edges of the pastry. – Pic 7
- Arrange your fruit on top. – Pic 8
- Bake for 25 mins until the filling has risen slightly and the pastry is crisp underneath. – Pic 9
- While the tarts are still hot, brush a teaspoon of honey over each to glaze the fruit.
- Transfer to a wire cooling rack and allow to cool completely if you can wait. Or eat them hot with a scoop of ice cream. Yum!
If you like this recipe, you may also like:
Orange and Ginger Cupcakes with Orange Velvet Frosting
Pesky Recipes 
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