What I love about a frangipane tart is how stunning, elegant and classic it is. Frangipane is sweetened almond pastry cream filling used in a variety of European desserts. Once baked, it has a puffy, sticky, cake-like crumb. Adorned with any fruit you can imagine, a frangipane tart is absolutely beautiful, impressive, and a treat that should be enjoyed for breakfast, brunch, dessert, tea time, or anytime in between! This cherry frangipane tart has fresh pitted cherry halves for a burst of ripe sweetness and a crunch that comes from nutty almond slices.
Inspiration Comes In Odd Ways
On Saturdays I have a block of time in the morning when Grant takes the girls to the park or on a father-daughter outing of some kind. Since this is my block of “me time” to do whatever I want. That means I use that as my blogging or video making time. Or, as most might relate, I end up at Target!
And usually I go for no reason whatsoever or maybe I just want to look at one thing… Big mistake. I get a cart just in case and then aimlessly walk the entire store, piling up on everything from clearance to bullseye bins to more drinking glasses than anyone would ever need in their entire life. Granted, I make a hell of a lot of cocktails and need the photos. That’s what I tell Grant when he just looks at me and says, “More glasses?”!
But this time I came across Chrissy Teigen’s new line, Cravings By Chrissy Teigen: Target. What well crafted and gorgeous pieces! Well, at least, that’s what I learned when I tried to order everything since it was all sold out. Except for one lone mug! Hooray! Score! I’m obsessed with my single mug. It has a cozy feel to it since it’s big and round and you can cup it in both hands. And it’s my favorite color scheme of gold and cream. But let’s face it, Chrissy Teigen is so put together, witty, and chic that I would expect no less!
So naturally, this led me to creating a treat to enjoy with my new everything mug. It was still early so I was craving a pastry that wasn’t too sweet or too filling. And most importantly, was as classy and chic as my Cravings Mug! Who else has such a bizarre creative process?! But hey, carpe diem or make life ritzy, right?!
So a cherry frangipane tart was what came to mind!
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Cherry Frangipane Tart
This cherry frangipane tart begins with a buttery, crisp, almost crumbly in your mouth Pâte sucrée. This is a versatile crust that works well with all fruit centered tarts like my Blueberry Tart. Another great aspect of this tart crust is that even if it cracks while you are putting into the tart pan, you can push and piece it together. While a Vegetable Galette looks rustic when you do this, this crust will look seamless and perfect since it will mold to your tart pan edges. Just look!
The cherry frangipane is filled with a lightly sweetened almond pastry cream that consists of butter, eggs, and ground almonds. Note that you can use almond flour like, BOBS RED MILL Flour Almond Super Fine, or even ground up leftover Macarons if you wanted to add a hint of flavoring to the filling, like a hint of tea. Frangipanes have endless possibilities and have come a long way from the famous Bakewell Tart.
If you do want to use ground up macarons in a frangipane filling, feel free shoot me an email for measurement adjustments on sugar, flavor suggestions, and so on.
To use freshly ground whole almonds in your filling, use a Food Processor and grind the almonds until they are super fine but not yet a paste.
The Crust
A Pâte sucrée is simply a sugar sweetened shortcrust that will give you an almost crumbly texture in your mouth. You will see that the texture is somewhat cookie dough like and easily molded to fit your Tart Pan.
Begin making this cherry frangipane tart by preparing your crust.
In a bowl, whisk together a hefty pinch of salt and granulated sugar with flour. Note that you can add in a bit of citrus zest for extra flavor, however, this is optional. See recipe below. When I make pie and pastry crust of any kind like that for my Apple Hand Pies, I always use Baker`s Sugar. This is a finely ground sugar that easily incorporates into your crust. While I haven’t seen this sugar at the local markets, I buy it online.
Then you will use cold diced butter. Cut it in using a Pastry Cutter.
Lastly, whisk your egg yolk and COLD water before using a fork to incorporate it into the pastry.
Then gather the dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll it to about a 10 inch disc and put it into your tart pan. To get a professional finish on the tart, use a rolling pin over the edges to flatten and thicken them out slightly and cut off any remaining crust.
Chill the crust for about 45 minutes.
Then preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Blind bake the crust for approx. 15 minutes. It does not need pie weights or to be pricked on the bottom.
While the crust is baking, move on to your cherry frangipane tart filling.
My Naughty Kids
This crust is irresistible. Just ask my cheeky, sneaky children. These two actually stole the first crust I baked! Really! I had gotten busy with laundry and putting Lukas outside. That goofy dog now makes me walk him out into the freezing cold and stay on the deck to watch him while he does his business. Spoiled old guy! So while the crust was cooling these two teamed up for trouble right behind my back in the kitchen! I turned around and found this! Bea and Tilly, the cutest crust thieves around! At least they shared it pretty equally!
Don’t worry, the crust was completely cooled and they didn’t touch a hot tart pan! It was on the island for photo taking purposes.
The Filling
First, pit and slice a couple of cups of fresh and juicy cherries. You can either use a
Cherry Pitter, or a sturdy straw to remove the pits.
If using a straw, remove the stem from the cherry. Place it on a cutting board and push the straw through the center, pushing out the pit.
Then set aside all of the cherries.
If using whole almonds, process them until finely ground but not a paste.
To begin, you will cream your butter and sugar for a minute. Then add eggs one at a time and beat until each one is incorporated. Add a splash of Amaretto or Bourbon or vanilla extract.
Then switch to a spatula and add your almond meal, flour, and salt. By now your crust will be out of the oven and you will pour this frangipane filling right over the warm crust. Smooth it out and top it with the cherries halves. Press them down only slightly. The tart will puff up as it bakes, so you want to use more cherries than you think since the puffing will make spaces between the fruit.
Lastly, sprinkle the almond slices on top.
Bake the cherry frangipane tart for 35-40 minutes. Then allow it to cool. Remove it from the tart pan and serve with some tea, coffee, or if enjoying after dinner, a snifter of brandy!
Cherry Frangipane Tart
Cherry Frangipane Tart is elegant, beautiful, and not too sweet. This is the perfect teat time treat, after dinner delight, or brunch star! Fresh cherries are arranged and sprinkled with almonds for a visually stunning dish that is European and crowd pleasing.
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 Cup AP Flour
- 3 Tablespoons Superfine Sugar or Granulated Sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons butter cold, diced
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon water ice cold
- 3/4 teaspoon finely grated orange zest optional
Frangipane Filling
- 1 cup finely ground almonds
- 1 tablespoon AP flour
- 1/2 cup butter room temperature
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon Brandy or Amaretto (or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract)
- 2 cups fresh cherries pitted and halved
- 2 tablespoons sliced almonds for topping
Instructions
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First, make your crust by whisking flour with fine sugar and salt. Cut in cold butter. Whisk together egg yolk and cold water and use a fork to work it into the crust. Then put onto lightly floured surface and roll out to 10 inches. Then put into tart pan. Use a rolling pin to flatten edges. Chill approx. 45-60 minutes.
Then preheat oven to 425 degrees. Blind bake the tart crust.
Meanwhile, make your filling.
In a large bowl, cream sugar with butter. Then add eggs. Beat in EITHER your brandy OR Amaretto OR vanilla extract. This is your preference for which hint of flavor enhancement you want.
Then use a spatula or wooden spoon to add the flours. Then spread into your warm crust and top with cherries and almond slices.
Bake for 35-40 minutes.
Allow to cool before serving.
Special Equipment For This Cherry Frangipane Tart
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