Fig and Almond Frangipane Tarts

Published on August 7, 2020 | By
fig tart

July is fig harvesting month in Louisiana. Almost every vendor at our weekend farmer’s market has baskets overflowing with luscious ripe figs. I am usually not disciplined enough to wait as I research recipes for cooking something new and innovative with my figs. Once they are washed and placed in a bowl on the kitchen table, my husband and I can rarely contain ourselves and demolish them in fairly short order.
On days when I am feeling a little more disciplined, I have used the figs in a few “no cooking required” recipes. Sliced figs in a green salad with walnuts and gorgonzola with a little balsamic dressing is so perfect. The hints of sharp saltiness from the cheese and sweet and acid from the balsamic vinegar and the figs are artfully balanced. I also recently posted an open faced sandwich that I made using chevre, fresh sliced figs, arugula, and a balsamic reduction. I am working on my recipe for a fig and port wine sauce that I recently served with seared duck foie gras. This sauce would also be delicious with duck breasts. I’ll share that later once I have it perfected.

During my search for a fresh fig dessert, I came across Ottolenghi’s recipe for fig and pistachio frangipane tartlets in his cookbook, “Sweet.” I decided to use the recipe for his excellent sweet shortbread crust pastry and pair it with my almond frangipane filling. There are still a few things I hope to make before the fig crop is exhausted by the end of the month. Maybe fig preserves or a fig jam. I am also looking for a good fig cake recipe using fresh figs and maybe polenta. A rich and creamy fig ice cream would be pretty darn tasty too. So little time remaining in the season and so many options for using our beautiful fresh Louisiana figs. If you have a favorite recipe, please forward to [email protected]. Merci!

    • Prep Time
    • Minutes
    • Cook Time
    • Minutes
    • Yield
    • 10-12- 4" tarts

Ingredients

  • Shortcrust pastry:
  • 21/2 cups of flour
  • 3/4 cup of confectioners' sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup plus 2 TBSP unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes. An additional 1 TBSP melted for brushing the pan if needed.
  • Zest of one lemon, finely grated
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 4 tsp of water
  • SLP almond frangipane:
  • ½ cup of sliced almonds or almond meal
  • ½ cup butter
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 2 TBSP flour
  • pinch salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 dozen small figs
  • 1/2 cup sliced almonds

Instructions

  1. SLP Almond Frangipane: Using a food processor, grind almonds. Add sugar, salt, eggs, almond extract and vanilla and process until blended. Then add butter, flour, baking powder and process to a smooth butter. Set aside.
  2. Shortcrust Pastry: Sift together the flour, confectioner's sugar and salt and place in a food processor. Add the butter and lemon zest and pulse until the mixture has the consistency of breadcrumbs.
  3. Whisk the egg and water together.
  4. Add this to the dough in the food processor. Pulse a few times until dough begins to come together. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface.
  5. Lightly knead the dough into a ball, cover it with plastic wrap. Press it gently to form a flat disc and then place it in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
  6. Bring the dough to room temperature. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to about 1/8" thick. Use a 4" cutter to cut the dough into circles. You can either bake these in 4" tart pans or press the dough into muffin tins.
  7. If you use a regular muffin pan, lightly butter and flour the molds. I used a non stick muffin pan and non stick fluted tart shell pans. Place the circle of dough into the muffin pan and press down and around the sides. If you are using tart pans, gently press the dough into the fluted edges. Refrigerate the shells for about an hour before blind baking.
  8. Preheat the oven to 350. Line the pastry with a small piece of parchment or cupcake papers. Fill the shells with beans or rice for blind baking. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the shells are golden brown. Allow them to cool in the pan.
  9. Turn oven up to 400. Once the tart shells have cooled, use a spoon to fill each shell with about 2 TBSP of frangipane cream. Slice a couple of figs and arrange the fig slices on top of the tart. Sprinkle with sliced almonds. Press the figs and almond down slightly into the filling.
  10. Bake the tarts for about 20 minutes until the filling is puffy and brown. Allow the tarts to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. Remove.
  11. Serve either warm or at room temp. Can serve a little fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream on the side.
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