Image is for illustrative purposes only.
Frangipane is the classic almond filling that goes into a tart shell raw and comes out of the oven set, golden and soft. It is little more than butter, sugar, eggs and ground almonds in equal balance, with a small amount of cake flour to hold it together and fresh lemon zest to lift the richness.
Baked, it has a moist, slightly dense crumb and a deep almond flavour that stays soft for days. Spread it into a blind-baked or raw sweet pastry shell, press fruit into the surface if you like — sliced apple, pear, plum or berries all work — and bake until the top is golden and just firm. It is also good in diamond-cut pastry bites and small tartlets.
Ingredients
The weights in the recipe table below will yield the following 'weight per unit' and 'number of units'. If you would like to change the recipe to cater to a different 'weight per unit' and/or 'number of units',
you can use the Recipe Calculator Tool below the ingredients table.
Note: The Recipe Calculator Tool is available to subscribers.
Weight Per Unit: 488
Number of Units: 3
Unit Size: 24 cm tart shell, about 500 g of filling each
|
|
|
WEIGHT
(grams)
|
ALTERNATIVE METRIC
|
INGREDIENT
|
IMAGE
|
CONDITION
|
|
A
|
360 |
12.7 ounces
|
Butter
Butter is a solid dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk, to separate the butterfat from the buttermilk. It is generally used as a spread on plain or toasted bread products and a condiment on cooked vegetables, as well as in cooking, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying. Butter consists of butterfat, milk proteins and water.
unsalted
|
|
room temperature, soft |
|
B
|
360 |
12.7 ounces
|
Sugar
Sugar is the generalized name for sweet, short-chain, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. They are carbohydrates, composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. There are various types of sugar derived from different sources. Simple sugars are called monosaccharides and include glucose (also known as dextrose), fructose and galactose. The table or granulated sugar most customarily used as food is sucrose, a disaccharide. (In the body, sucrose hydrolyses into fructose and glucose.) Other disaccharides include maltose and lactose. Longer chains of sugars are called oligosaccharides. Chemically-different substances may also have a sweet taste, but are not classified as sugars. Some are used as lower-calorie food substitutes for sugar described as artificial sweeteners.
|
|
|
|
C
|
10 |
0.4 ounce
|
Lemon Zest
Lemon zest is the thin, brightly coloured outer layer of the lemon skin, removed with a fine grater or zester without taking the bitter white pith underneath. It holds the fruit's aromatic oils and gives a fresh citrus lift to batters and creams.
fresh
|
|
finely grated |
|
D
|
300 |
10.6 ounces
|
Almond Meal
Almond meal, almond flour or ground almond is made from ground sweet almonds. Almond flour is usually made with blanched almonds (no skin), whereas almond meal can be made both with whole or blanched almonds. The consistency is more like corn meal than wheat flour.
It is used in pastry and confectionery – in the manufacture of almond macarons and other sweet pastries, in cake and pie filling, such as Sachertorte and is one of the two main ingredients of marzipan and almond paste. In France, almond meal is an important ingredient in frangipane, the filling of traditional galette des Rois cake.
Almond meal has recently become important in baking items for those on low carbohydrate diets. It adds moistness and a rich nutty taste to baked goods. Items baked with almond meal tend to be calorie-dense.
finely ground
|
|
|
|
E
|
60 |
2.1 ounces
|
Cake Flour
Cake flour is a finely milled white flour made from soft wheat. It has very low protein content, between 8% and 10%, making it suitable for soft-textured cakes and cookies. The higher protein content of other flours would make the cakes tough. Highly sifted cake flours may require different volume amounts in recipes than all-purpose flour. Using the scoop and level method, well-sifted flour usually produces 125 g per cup. However, most American recipes are written with 140 g of flour per cup, so weighing and experimentation can be helpful in baking unfamiliar recipes. Small weight differences can greatly affect the texture. American Cake flour is bleached; in countries where bleached flour is prohibited, plain flour can be treated in a domestic microwave to improve the texture of the end product.
|
|
sifted |
|
F
|
360 |
7.2 Whole Eggs
|
Whole Egg
Eggs are one of the most common ingredients in a typical cake. Egg yolks and whole eggs store significant amounts of protein and choline, and are widely used in baking. Usually an eggs role in a cake is to add moisture and richness, act as a raising agent as well as a glue to bind the ingredients together.
|
|
room temperature, lightly beaten |
|
G
|
10 |
2 teaspoons
|
Vanilla Essence
Vanilla Extract is made with 100% pure vanilla beans. With a sweet, syrupy consistency, this Vanilla is ideal for use in icings, drinks and whipped cream as well as classic baking recipes. Vanilla Essence is commercially manufactured by chemicals and is more of a watery consistency as opposed to vanilla extract which is thicker and a lot fuller and richer in flavour. You can replace one with the other but use 50% more of essence. For example, for 1 teaspoon of extract, use 1.5 teaspoons of essence.
|
|
|
|
H
|
2.5 |
|
Salt
Common salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in its natural form as a crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantities in seawater, where it is the main mineral constituent; the open ocean has about 35 grams (1.2 oz) of solids per litre, a salinity of 3.5%. Salt is essential for animal life, and saltiness is one of the basic human tastes. Salt is one of the oldest and most ubiquitous of food seasonings, and salting is an important method of food preservation.
|
|
|
|
|
1462
|
|
|
|
|
Recipe Calculator Tool
Using this tool, you can alter this recipe for your own requirements. Use the two fields below to generate new weights for the ingredients above.
STEP 1. Enter your Custom Weight Per Unit
The 'Custom Weight Per Unit' is already loaded with the weight per unit for this recipe but can be changed if required. If all you wish to do is change the number of units (or servings), just leave the current weight per unit.
STEP 2. Enter your Custom Number of Units
This is the number of units (or servings) you want this recipe to yield.
STEP 3. Click Calculate
The new weights for your adjusted recipe will be displayed in the table above.
Method
|
STEP
|
ACTION
|
DETAIL
|
CONDITION
|
|
1 |
Prepare |
Have A (butter) properly soft and F (whole egg) at room temperature. Weigh D, E and H (almond meal, cake flour and salt) into one bowl and stir them together. |
Everything at the same temperature so the mixture will not split |
|
2 |
Whip |
Whip A, B and C (butter, caster sugar and lemon zest) in a mixer with the paddle or whisk until light. |
Pale, soft and creamy, with the sugar no longer gritty |
|
3 |
Add |
Beat F and G (whole egg and vanilla essence) together in a jug, then add them to the creamed butter a little at a time, beating well between each addition. |
Smooth and glossy after each addition; if it looks like curdling, add a spoonful of the almond mix and keep beating |
|
4 |
Fold |
Add the almond meal, cake flour and salt mixture bit by bit and fold it through on low speed or by hand. |
Evenly combined and smooth; do not overwork |
|
5 |
Fill |
Spread about 500 g of the filling into each prepared 24 cm sweet pastry shell and level the surface. Press sliced fruit lightly into the top if you are using it. |
Shell no more than two thirds full, as the filling rises a little |
|
6 |
Bake |
Bake at 170–180°C (340–355°F) for about 30–40 minutes, depending on the depth of the tart. |
Golden brown on top, just firm in the centre and a skewer comes out clean |
|
7 |
Cool |
Leave the tart to cool in its tin before glazing or cutting. |
Completely cold so the filling sets and slices cleanly |
Important Notes
This quantity makes about 1,460 g of filling, enough for three 24 cm tarts at roughly 500 g each, or a tray of small diamond-cut pastries. The mixture can be made ahead and kept covered in the fridge for up to three days; bring it back to room temperature and beat it briefly before using, or it will be too stiff to spread. Baked frangipane tarts keep well for several days in an airtight container and can be warmed gently before serving.
Tools & Arrangements
Electric mixer with paddle or whisk attachment, digital scales, mixing bowls, fine grater or zester, sieve, spatula, palette knife, tart tins or pastry shells, oven.
