Fig frangipane tartlets

Afternoon tea is a great tradition, when else can you sit around a table with your favourite people (ideally) and indulge in pastries, mini sandwiches and other treats, washed down with your preferred tea blend or, even better, a cup of tea and a few glasses of champagne?! I also adore scones but to date I’ve not managed to make a recipe that I really love as much as the ones I eat in restaurants… Of course one of the added bonuses of tea is you get to bake a treat beforehand, something I find highly therapeutic. I made these frangipane tartlets topped with fig recently, and they came out so delicious I am sharing this here for some of you to try out.

Frangipane is an almond cream, with a little hint of vanilla, that is used as a filling in tarts, and cakes such as the Galette des Rois, Bakewell tart, etc. I love it with pears, figs, and even berries on top. It is a very simple recipe with almond flour, sugar, butter, and eggs (see below for full list of ingredients for the tartlets)… yes , this is a dessert, so evidently it’s rich and sweet, what did you expect? Keto-friendly frangipane? Trust me though, the tartlet in itself is light and fluffy and totally worth the extra calories…

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I use a shortcrust pastry as a base, and line the small tartlet molds with it before putting them in a pre-heated oven at 180°C to blind bake until they are just short of light gold. The perfect size for this is a 10-12cm diameter mold, anything bigger will be too much for a tea or even as a dessert, given the sweetness of these tartlets.

The recipe for the frangipane is super simple and you just need a whisk, electrical or otherwise. First you mix the sugar and butter together and cream the butter until smooth, before adding the almond flour to a sandy dough consistency. Scrape the inside of the vanilla pod with a sharp knife and add to the mix (alternatively use 1.5 tsp of vanilla extract), and add the eggs, continuously beating the mixture until everything is combined. Finally mix the flour in, and you should have a thick batter, something that can be piped or spooned into the pastry cases.

I put about two tablespoons of frangipane per tartlet (it does raise in the oven), then top up with thin slices of fig (the tartness and texture of the fig slices works well with the smooth almond filling), and back into the oven at 180°C for about 20 to 30 minutes. If you’re making a big tart count at least 45 minutes for baking.

You can dust some confectionery sugar on top, but I like the look of them raw. They look like little flowers, don’t you think? Let me know if you try them how they come out.

With love, S.