Pastry week – a bit like bread week – is my nemesis. It’s usually always a double take for me with pastry so when I saw the bakes for this week I had no qualms about what I was going to do. Vol au vents – nope, I resorted to ready made puff pastry last year, so no go this time! Flaouna (what?!) – nope, no time to attempt a technical challenge at the minute with the business and stress of moving house. So a frangipane tart it was.

I’ve made a tart before so I could just about manage shortcrust pastry, but I’ve never actually made frangipane let alone experiment with flavours so I just went with a classic almond flavour, because as you can see I am hosting the linky this week (last minute!) so I had to come up with something quick! I wanted to make it flavoursome and pretty though so I went with a rainbow fruit topping; I think it looks great and it tastes delightful too!

Ingredients (serves 10-12)
Pastry

• 200g plain flour
• 110g butter
• 100g golden caster sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1-2tbsp water

• Preheat oven to gas 5/375F/190C. Set a 9 inch tart tin with a removable base to the side (no need to grease or line).
• In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, butter, and salt until it resembles breadcrumbs.
• Add a little water – I found 1 tbsp was about enough – and form into a smooth ball.
• Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 20-30 mins.
• In the meantime, prepare your frangipane. In a clean bowl using a hand mixer, mix the butter, sugar, eggs, and almonds until well combined.
• Roll out your pastry to an even thickness, and so it is a little larger than your tin in diameter (overhang is okay as it will shrink anyway). Carefully place over and press gently into your tin.
• Pour in the frangipane mixture and gently shake so it spreads evenly, then bake for 30-35 mins until the pastry is just browning and the frangipane is golden.
• Leave the tart to cool in the tin (on a cooling rack) and then neatly trim if needed.
• Once completely cooled (I left mine in the fridge overnight) spread the creme fraiche almost to the edge of the tart.
• Starting in the middle, place your fruits in circles to resemble the colours of the rainbow.
• Dust lightly around the edges with icing sugar.
• Keep in the fridge until ready to serve.
• Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Be sure to check out the linky rules and badge code which can be found over at Jenny’s blog Mummy Mishaps. Can’t wait to see what you’ve all been baking this week!