Once upon a time, a long long time ago, an Italian Nobleman travelled to Paris. He brought with him gloves made of the softest Italian leather which he had scented with an almond perfume. The nobleman and his gloves were an immediate hit with French Society. And the French did what the French do. They set out to make a dish inspired by the Nobleman’s almond scented gloves.

The nobleman was the Marquis Muzio Frangipani and the dish they created was a tart filled with an almond cream which they called “Frangipane”. The classic French Frangipane tart consists of a sweet short crust pastry shell filled with almond cream and topped with fruit.

Over time the almond cream filling moved to England where it became the key ingredient of a much more rustic dish, the Bakewell Tart. It consists of short crust pastry, jam, and almond cream topped with an icing sugar glaze. I would often buy these as an afterschool treat for my daughters when we lived outside London.

Recently I brought together all the places of my life and made a Frangipane Tart topped with Mango and Raspberry. The tang of the raspberries meets the sweetness of the mango and they dance on your tongue to the music of almonds.

Make the shortcrust pastry according to my recipe for fruit tart Blind bake it according to the recipe. You can do this the day before if you like.

This is a finished crust for an unbaked tart. Leave yours in the pan until the tart is completely finished.

Beat butter and sugar together until well creamed, about 5-6 minutes on medium high. Use cultured butter for the best results. The mixture should become very light in color.

Beat in the eggs and almond flour, beating it well (one minute on high) between each addition. It will get even creamier and lighter!

The frangipane will be very light in color and fluffy

Drop the mixture in your pre-baked tart shell and use a knife or offset spatula to spread it evenly.

Decorate with the fruit.

I placed my fruit so that a slice could be made using one or both fruits.

After the tart is baked, melt a little apple jelly and brush it over the top to give it a nice shine.

Brushing the tart with melt jelly will give it a nice glaze

Serve the tart warm or at room temperature.

MANGO AND RASPBERRY FRANGIPANE TART

Ingredients

1 prebaked tart shell see note
½ c butter softened
½ c sugar
1 c almond flour
3 large eggs
1 tbsp flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp almond extract
½ tsp lemon zest
1 large mango peeled and sliced
1 c fresh raspberries
2 tbsp apple jelly

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Make the pastry and bake the tart shell according to the instructions on the blog post If I Can Make a Fruit Tart, You Can Make a Fruit Tart. (See Link in Notes) This can be done the day before.
While the tart shell is cooling make the Frangipane (almond custard) filling.
Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer at medium to medium high for at least five minutes until the mixture is very light in color and well mixed. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl and the paddle once or twice during this process.
Over low speed add one egg and one-third of the almond flour. Once they are incorporated, increase the speed to high and beat for one minute. Repeat twice more with the remaining eggs and almond flour.
Add the plain flour and mix. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and the lemon zest. Mix until just combined.
Place the the frangipane filling in the cool tart shell and use a knife or offset spatula to spread it evenly.
Arrange the fruit on top of the filling.
Bake in a 350 degree oven 45 to 55 minutes. The frangipane should rise around the fruit and be a deep golden brown.
Remove the tart from the oven.
Melt the apple jelly in a microwave for 30 seconds or over the stove top. Use a pastry brush to spread the jelly over the top of the tart.
Once the tart has fully cooled, carefully remove from the tart pan and serve.