Recipe: Plum Frangipane Tart

Recipe: Plum Frangipane Tart

Plum Frangipane Tart by The Messy Baker

Little Jack Horner’s got nothing on me. What’s he got? A corner, a thumb and a nursery rhyme no one understands. Me? I’ve got fresh plums and frangipane. That’s right. You heard me. Frangipane. I know. It sounds like a resort cocktail, but it’s really just fancy food talk for a filling made with ground almonds. And plums and almonds go together like boozy fruit-based cocktails and tiny paper umbrellas —  or sneaky little boys and pies — so this was combination seemed obvious.

I had pastry left over from the annual Thanksgiving Concord Grape Pie — enough to make a 6-inch tart. So, I got creative with the plums. Compared to the in-your-face-I’m-a-GRAPE pie, this one is subtle. But subtle’s good.

Good enough to stick your thumb in.

Plum Frangipane Tart by The Messy Baker

After feedback on the new recipe format, I’m trying a third variation. People like a complete ingredient list to use for grocery shopping and mise en place (another fancy food word for something simple — preparing all your ingredients before you cook.) but also liked the instructions woven in with the ingredient requirements. So, I’m trying a hybrid format. What do you think? Too long? Works better?

[box type=”info” style=”rounded” border=”full”]Update: I’ve started using Ziplist so the formatting issue is now set by the software during conversion. Problem solved.[/box]

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Recipe: Plum Frangipane Tart

Plum Tart by The Messy Baker

Frangipane, a simple ground almond paste, turns a ho-hum plum tart into something special.

  • Author: Charmian Christie
  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Cook Time: 45 mins
  • Total Time: 1 hour
  • Yield: 4 to 6 1x
  • Category: Dessert
  • Cuisine: Summer

Ingredients

Scale
  • pastry for 6-inch pie

Plums

  • 2 cups plums, pitted and sliced in wedges
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • fresh nutmeg

Frangipane

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup ground almonds
  • 2 tbsp icing sugar
  • 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 egg

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
  2. Prepare the crust: Roll the pastry to 1/4-inch thick and line a 6-inch tart pan. Chill the pastry in the refrigerator until ready.
  3. Prepare the fruit: In a medium bowl, toss the plums, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg together. Set aside.
  4. Make the frangipane: In a food processor or blender, purée the butter, almonds, icing sugar, vanilla and egg until smooth.
  5. Assemble the tart: Spread the frangipane evenly over the bottom of the pie shell. Sprinkle with the sugared plums.
  6. Bake: Place the pie in the bottom third of the oven and bake 35 to 45 minutes or until the crust is golden and the plums are bubbling.Allow to cool before serving.

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No Comments
  • Lisa
    Posted at 21:42h, 12 October

    What a delicious way to use plums. This tart just looks so homey.

  • Janet Foster
    Posted at 11:05h, 13 October

    This looks wonderful. I’ve been trying to figure out how to get my husband to eat plums. He swears he doesn’t like them but I don’t think he’s tasted one since he was a kid. If I don’t tell him they’re plums, he just might eat this. Thanks

  • Sally
    Posted at 13:41h, 13 October

    You are so right – frangipane is divine and with plums sublime. Thanks for sharing this one.

  • Sally
    Posted at 13:42h, 13 October

    PS Meant to say, that format works for me (or just the ingredients at the top is fine too).

  • Charmian Christie
    Posted at 19:36h, 13 October

    @Lisa, homey is a nice word. I was thinking ‘rustic’. I think I like homey better.

  • Charmian Christie
    Posted at 19:37h, 13 October

    @Janet Foster, let me know how it goes. Plums are often used in Moroccan main dishes, so you could sneak some in with a chicken dinner sometime.

  • Charmian Christie
    Posted at 19:40h, 13 October

    @Sally, Thanks for the feedback. I think the ingredient list becomes more important with more complex recipes, but time will tell.

    I appreciate you taking the time to post a second comment to answer my question.