Apricot & Almond Frangipane Tart
I made this for a dinner party on holiday, as the apricots were looking so delicious and I craved a slice of something tart and juicy but it needed to be elegant enough to serve to guests. As well as being good enough the next day as leftovers for breakfast. Always a good litmus test.
And with no gluten free flour in the village to find, I made a make-shift (and so tine-saving) base for a pretty classic frangipane that went down really well with a mixed crowd.
No-Pastry Base
- 200g Amaretti
- 1 egg
- 30g Butter softened
- 4 eggs
- apricots, halved and stoned
- 300g blanched almonds (do use ground if in a hurry)
- 150 g unsalted butter
- 100g (coconut) sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla bean extract
- 1/2 cup decent apricot jam
Preheat the oven to 180.
Grease a springform 8 inch cake tin.
Firstly make the base, a far cry from pastry rolling. Simply grind the amaretti biscuits (check they're without gluten if needed) or bash them until a coarse mixture. Mix in the egg and butter, folding.
Press the mixture into he prepared tin, pushing it down until evenly spread and play in the fridge until needed.
Blitz the blanched almonds to a flour - be careful to watch them as they go from a coarse mill as they can turn into nut butter unattended. Cream together with the butter and sugar and fold in the beaten eggs with the vanilla to form a lovely light batter.
Spread the jam over the biscuit base and then pour over the almond batter.
Stud the top with apricot halves until you've used them all up. Brush with a little jam and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden on top and the fruit looks beautifully glistening.
Serve with mascarpone or creme fraiche with a dash of vanilla or vin Santo if you're feeling the Italian in you.