Cherry & Pistachio Frangipane Tart
Friends, hi! Happy Thursday! Please forgive my tardiness in bringing this post to you one day late – I am sorry. I was having an off day of sorts yesterday & I had to make a baked custard tart for my PUFF course. Let me tell you: it was a struggle. Egg yolks broken all over the counter, shards of shell strewn across the kitchen, and custard on the floor. An off day for the records, truly. These photos remind me that some days are actually on days, and for that I am thankful. May I present to you: Cherry & Pistachio Frangipane Tart. A fancy bakewell, if you will.
I have always been a lover of bakewell tarts. One of the strongest memories from my childhood is going shopping with my mom & ripping open the packet of Mr Kipling’s Cherry Bakewell Tarts literally as soon as we reached the car. I was obsessed. This Cherry & Pistachio Frangipane Tart is an extension of that obsession – but so much better. The flavours are more sophisticated, sure, but it’s still just a jammy tart at its core. The 7-year old in me is thrilled that my bakewell love is still going strong.
why frangipane?
Frangipane is literally so simple to make, and so versatile. It’s a basic mixture of sugar, butter, ground nuts, flour, and eggs. For this, I made a brown butter pistachio frangipane and layered it over a generous spread of dark cherry jam. If that doesn’t work for you: use un-browned butter, a different nut, fresh fruit etc., you get the picture. The most time consuming part of this bake is the sweet pastry base. If it weren’t so delicious, I’d tell you to just use store-bought, but alas, it’s worth the effort. I promise.
PS, shout-out to my two wonderful hand models! One of whom painted her nails to match the cherry theme, and the other who coincidentally wore exactly the right colour jacket. Thank you both!
Happy baking!
Cherry & Pistachio Frangipane
A deliciously simple & comforting Cherry & Pistachio Frangipane. Sweet pastry, spread with dark cherry jam, topped with brown butter pistachio frangipane.
P R E P1 hour
C O O K45 minutes
T O T A L3 hours 45 minutes
Yield: 8 generous slices
Author: Vicki | Passionate Baker
INGREDIENTS
for the sweet pastry
175 gr plain flour
112.5 gr salted butter, cubed and cold
50 gr icing sugar, sifted
30 gr egg yolk
1/4 lemon, zested
for the frangipane
100 gr brown butter, chilled
100 gr caster sugar
1.5 eggs, lightly whisked together
70 gr ground pistachios
30 gr ground almonds
25 gr plain flour
1 pinch salt
3/4 tsp almond extract
for the cherry filling
2/3 cup dark cherry jam
to finish
2 tbsp apricot jam (optional)
DIRECTIONS
for the sweet pastry
Place the flour, icing sugar & lemon zest in bowl; mix.
Using your fingers – or a KitchenAid – breadcrumb the butter into the mixture until it is a fine consistency, with only smaller pieces of butter remaining.
Add the egg yolk and bring together to form a dough. Tightly wrap in cling film & leave to rest in the fridge for a minimum of two hours.
Once chilled, roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface, to about 4mm thick, turning the pastry often. Line your 9-inch tart tin with the pastry, trimming off any excess. Place into the fridge while you make the frangipane.
for the frangipane
Beat the brown butter down, until it is lightly whipped. Add the sugar & almond extract.
Beat in the eggs; mix until thoroughly combined.
Add in the ground almonds, pistachios, and the flour. Whisk together until homogeneous.
to assemble
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Remove the chilled tart from the fridge and use an offset spatula to spread the cherry jam over the base.
Dollop the frangipane mixture on top of the jam & use a spoon or offset spatula to gently spread it across the top.
Bake in the preheated oven for 40-45minutes, or until the frangipane springs back to the touch and the pastry is a deep golden brown. Leave to cool in the tin for 10-minutes, before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.
Melt the apricot jam lightly in the microwave and use a pastry brush to coat the frangipane with it.
NOTES
the sweet pastry dough is quite buttery, and can become hard to work with when warm. Make sure you roll it out when it is cold, working quickly.Â
alternatively, if you’ve found that it’s entirely unmanageable (we’ve all been there!), roll it into a fat worm shape, wrap in cling film, and pop in the freezer for a couple hours. Once frozen, use a box grater to break it down & use your fingertips to push the grated dough into the tart tin. Works every time!
Did you make this recipe? I’d love to know! Please leave a comment & a rating below, or tag me on Instagram @imvcki. Thank you so much for supporting Passionate Baker!
