Sunday 22 March 2015

Frangipane FruitTart



Frangipane Tart

What a wonderful idea when the base is the shell and the filling. How much simpler could anything be yet taste delightful.  Try this wonderful fruit tart. You can use peaches, pears, apples, plums, oranges or any of the berries. I love pears and am going to use them for this recipe.


Frangipane is originally referred to as almond cream scented with like the beautiful Frangipani trees. Named after the Marquis Frangipani it is very popular in Europe particularly in France, Italy, Spain and Switzerland to serve an assortment of individual frangipane fruit tarts in cafe`s. They continue to be my personal favourite to date. 













Prepare an 8/10 inch/ 21 cm pan with parchment lining and butter. 

or Four individual ones in a 31/2 inch/9 cm round pie plate

1 cup ground almonds

1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
3/4 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt

2 small ripe pears

spice of choice,  1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp apricot marmalade +  Optionally 1 tbsp rum to glaze

In a bowl mix the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon.

Add the eggs and vanilla, Give it a good stir with the spoon. It will be a thick liquid.
Pour 3/4th in the pan. Lay out the pears fanned out, pour the remaining over and around it.
Bake in a preheated oven of 350F/180C for 30 minutes. Test with a skewer  to see if  cooked through. When still hot brush with the glaze made of the marmalade and rum. Serve warm on its own or with salted caramel ice cream or delicious creme-anglaise ar a caramel sauce.

Preparing the caramel sauce


In a pan, on a medium high flame melt
1 1/4 cup sugar
Swirl over the heat until beautifully amber coloured.

Remove from the fire and add 1 cup of cream over the caramel; This will splatter so be careful.
Add 1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp of Tahitian Vanilla

Optional 2 tbsp Rum

Tips

Lightly toast the ground almonds in a warm oven for 10 minutes before mixing it with the sugar. This refreshes the almonds and ensures it does not clump together. It keeps the frangipane" light"; hence it is an important step.
Choose the spice according to the fruit. Some of the other choices are nutmeg, ginger, all spice or cardamom.

Pour it into one large or 8 to 12 small tartlets. While this recipe does not need a pastry base it works well if you prefer to have one. Reduce baking time to just 8-10 minutes if its in a mini tartlet. While picking the size of the tartlet it works best if the diameter of the tartlet is slightly larger then the length and breadth of the fresh pear you plan to top it with. You may need to buy some additional pears to cover the individual pear tarts.


To make your own sweet short crust pastry 


The skewer test must come out clean. Pierce where there is no fruit.


For more delicious recipes download 

Niloufer's Kitchen: French Bistro
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J2KMB4C



Enjoy my published cookbook The Art of Parsi Cooking; reviving an ancient cuisine.





Niloufer Mavalvala, thank you for this most wonderful recipe, your pear tart turned out rich and cinnamony, with the right balance of flavours. I paired it with some finger lime flavoured whipped cream.

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