Frangipane Tart with Oranges (Tarte frangipane à l’orange)
I go crazy for anything with frangipane, including this frangipane tart with oranges. This tart is sweet and creamy with a delicate pastry crust and fabulous almond flavor.
Frangipane Tart
Frangipane is basically an almond pastry cream that’s used in a lot of pastries and cakes. If you’ve had an almond croissant or a bakewell tart, then you’ve enjoyed this heavenly pastry cream.
Frangipane is really easy to whip up; it’s a one-bowl kind of recipe made with just a handful of ingredients. Equal parts almond flour (or almond meal), sugar, and butter are beaten with an egg and a splash of extract.
After the frangipane bakes, it’s still creamy and incredibly moist. In a frangipane tart, that texture is a lovely contrast to the crisp pastry crust.
The Pastry Crust
The crust in this frangipane tart is made of pâte brisée, a shortcrust pastry dough. It’s a pastry dough that’s often used for a number of French tarts and quiche recipes.
It’s buttery, crisp, and bakes up really nicely in this frangipane tart.
Like I mentioned earlier, it’s a beautiful juxtaposition to the the creamy frangipane filling.
The Fruit
A frangipane tart can be made with a number of fruits. Apricots, plums, and pears are a handful of favorites.
During this time of the year, I love using sweet navel oranges. I’m such a big fan of citrus in baked goods. I love the vibrant quality citrus adds.
To utilize oranges here, I used the supreme technique (watch a how-to video here) to separate the orange wedges from their skin and membrane.
These kind of orange wedges can be used in a number of dishes, including salads. For this frangipane tart, I simply layered the wedges in a radial pattern.
Make Ahead
This frangipane tart is best when it’s had time to cool for several hours. The frangipane will have had time to fully set and the flavors will be me more pronounced.
The fact that this tart only gets better as it rests makes this a wonderful make-ahead option when you’re entertaining guests. If you’re making this a day ahead, take care to refrigerate the tart then allow it to warm to room temperature the day you’d like to serve it. If you’re making this the evening beforehand, then simply let it rest (covered) on the counter.
Frangipane Tart with Oranges
A sweet and creamy almond tart embedded with orange slices.
Ingredients
Pastry Crust (Pâte Brisée)
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, (90 grams)
- 2 tbsp powdered sugar, (12 grams)
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter, (50 grams) cold & cubed, plus more for greasing pan
- cold water
Frangipane Filling
- 1 cup almond meal, (100 grams)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar, (100 grams)
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, (115 grams) softened
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp almond extract, (2 grams)
- 2 oranges, supreme'd (see note)
- 1 tbsp shaved almonds
- powdered sugar, for the top
Instructions
Make the Pastry Crust
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the flour and powdered sugar together on low speed with the paddle attachment. Add the cold butter cubes in and beat until pea-size clumps form.
- Stream in cold water, one teaspoon at a time, just until the dough forms into a compact mass and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Make sure to allow the mixer to beat the dough for about 10 seconds before adding in every new teaspoon of cold water - this will give time for the dough to form without you adding too much water.
- Turn the dough out onto a large sheet of plastic wrap. Wrap the dough in the plastic, then use the heel of your hand to flatten out the dough into a disc shape. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (205°C). Brush a 6" (15 cm) cake pan with softened butter. Once the dough has chilled, unwrap the dough and either roll it out directly on the sheet of plastic wrap, or lightly flour your counter/wood board and roll the dough out on there. You can also sprinkle a little flour on the dough to keep it from sticking to your rolling pin. Roll the dough out until it's approximately 1/8" (.3 cm) thick. Make sure to roll it out in different directions so that it's as even as a circle as you can get it to be.
- Place the dough in the prepared cake pan, gently pressing it into the bottom of the pan and its inner edges. If one side looks too short, tear off extra dough from one of the long sides to make them even. Prick all over the base of the dough with a fork. Place a sheet of parchment paper inside the pan (on the dough), and fill the paper with dried beans or pie weights. Blind bake the pastry for 10 minutes. Remove the parchment paper and beans/weights, then continue to bake the pastry for another 10 minutes.
Make the Frangipane Filling
- In a medium bowl, mix the almond meal and granulated together with a rubber spatula until mixed well. Add the softened butter and mix until you form a paste-like mixture and the butter has been incorporated well.
- Add in the egg and almond extract, then continue to mix until the two are blended in well.
Assemble the Tart
- Transfer the frangipane to the baked pastry shell. Smooth it out evenly in the pan. Place the orange wedges on the filling, gently submerging them halfway into the filling. Place in any pattern you choose, radial or not.
- Sprinkle the shaved almonds on top, then bake the tart for 35 minutes on the middle rack. Then reduce the temperature to 350°F (180°C) and continue to bake for another 30 minutes. The tart might be a bit wobbly in the center, this is OK. Let the tart cool completely for several hours before removing.
- To remove the tart from the pan, run a sharp knife along the edge of the pan. Have your serving plate ready. Now, place a clean hand on top of the tart and use the other hand to turn the pan upside down. You'll turn the tart out much the way you'd turn a standard cake layer out of a pan or a quick bread out. You won't really destruct the tart since it will have had time to set and firm up, so don't worry. Dust with powdered sugar before serving. Frangipane should be moist and the crust should be crisp.
Notes
Whenever you're adding juicy fruit like oranges (or plums, apricots etc.), it's best to pat dry the fruit using paper towels, and let the fruit sit out for an hour (or overnight) to dry out beforehand. This will prevent the frangipane from becoming too runny or the pastry crust becoming soggy.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 6 ServingsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 518
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Really beautiful- I’ve been craving this since I’ve been eating a lot of almonds/almond flour lately. Only change I might make is to make a gluten free crust with almond flour. Thanks for sharing!
Lovely, thanks Anthony!
Hi, I tried a variation with juice of one orange and two eggs, delicious but slightly too wet. I understand eggs are primarily to help it rise. Have you experimented with egg quantity or including a little self raising flour?
Hi Max! I haven’t tried self-rising flour because of the nature of frangipane requiring almond flour. But this is on the wet side when it comes to texture because of the almond flour (lots of moisture), so if you wanted a different consistency, you could try a different flour! 🙂
This looks amazing. I have a 9″ tart pan. Do you know how I could modify the recipe to fit a 9″ tart pan?
Hi Sarah! Thanks so much! If you’re using a tart pan, then the recipe laid out here might actually work well because a tart pan is usually not that tall in height. If you were using a cake pan that was 9″, I would have said double the recipe so that you’d achieve the same kind of height you see here in the photos. Otherwise, with a short tart pan, I would say keep the recipe as is! My only change would be to check on the cake a little bit sooner as there won’t be as much depth in the batter to bake through. It might end up baking sooner.
If you give this a try, let me know! 🙂
This is absolutely stunning, Beeta! Almond croissants are my absolute favorite breakfast pastry, but I’ve never had frangipane in a tart! And what an amazing addition, that citrus zing.