Plum Frangipane Tart

Make this pretty plum frangipane tart for the perfect centrepiece dessert

I actually made this tart in honour of King Charles to celebrate the forthcoming coronation. I wanted to make something for the coronation that wasn't the typical red, white and blue (although I may still do that) and I read that one of his favourite foods, are the plums that are grown in the gardens of his estate at Highgrove House. Apparently, he eats two of these a day at breakfast along with other freshly grown fruits, so it felt right that a whole tart be covered in beautiful plums. Unfortunately this tart did not utilise the favourable plums from the royal household garden, though I bet they taste delicious! Instead I grabbed what I could, but I highly recommend using seasonal plums where possible! Plums and almonds are a beautiful combination, so a frangipane filling was only too obvious to make. I love a frangipane tart, and almonds are quite versatile with their fruit pairings so you could try this recipe with a fruit of your choice, though I wouldn't miss the opportunity to use plums.

If you love fruit and almonds....

Check out my other recipes for more inspiration!

• Apricot Frangipane Tart
• Bakewell Tart
• Blueberry and Almond Muffins

Recipe

Prep: 2 hours including chilling time (see notes)

Cook: 65 minutes

Serves: 8

Notes

• If the pastry is starting to darken quicker than the filling is, you can cover the tart in foil whilst it continues to bake. 
• I find the honey adds a little sticky sweetness to the plums, but this is optional.
• You could also add some grated lemon zest on top or I have seen others sprinkle fresh thyme.
• If you don't have time to make the pastry use store-bought shortcrust pastry as this will save a lot of time. 

Ingredients

Base

• 125g butter
• 250g plain flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1-2 tbsp ice cold water
• Zest of 1 lemon

Filling

• 150g butter
• 150g caser sugar
• 150g ground almonds
• 50g plain flour
• 2 large eggs
• juice from 1/2 lemon
• 5-6 plums
• 1 tbsp honey optional

Method

1. Grease and lightly flour a 9-inch tart tin and set aside.
2. Make the pastry base first. In a large bowl add the butter, lemon zest, salt and flour. Use your fingers to rub the butter into the flour until it resembles a bread crumb consistency. Then add the water 1 tbsp at a time. Mix together until a firm dough is formed. 
3. Flatten out into a disc shape on to clingfilm then wrap and place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
4. Remove the chilled pastry from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature for 10 minutes so it is not too hard when you try to roll it out otherwise it will crack.
5. Lightly flour your work surface and roll out the pastry to about 3mm thick into a rough circle - bigger than the tart tin.
6. Roll the pastry up with your rolling pin so that you can easily transfer it over the tart tin to drape over. 
7. Use your fingers to push the pastry down into the sides of the tin for a sharp edge. Use a sharp knife to trim the excess from around the top of the tart. If you have any spots of the base that look thinner you can use the excess pastry to press into it to make the base thicker. 
8. Place the tart base back into the fridge for at least an hour.
9. Preheat the oven to 180℃. Once the pastry is chilled, use a fork to prick the base all over.
10. Line the base with greaseproof paper on the bottom and the sides and use baking beans or dried rice to sit on top of the paper - this is blind baking.
11. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the paper and baking beans and bake for another 5 minutes.
12. Leave the tart base to cool.
13. Make the frangipane filling. In a large bowl add the butter and sugar and use an electric hand whisk or standing mixer to cream them both together till pale and fluffy.
14. Add the eggs one at a time mixing well in-between. Then add the lemon juice and mix. Scrape down the bowl to collect all of the filling.
15. Add the ground almonds and flour and mix together well.
16. Spoon the filling on top of the cooked tart base and spread out evenly.
17. Slice each plum in half and remove the stones. Then half the plums again and slice thinly into crescent shapes.
18. Decorate the plums on top of the frangipane in a spiralled fashion.
19. Bake the tart for 45 minutes until the filling has mostly set and barely wobbles.
20. Once baked, brush the honey on top of the plums as soon as it is out of the oven. 
21. Leave the tart to cool completely before removing from the tin and serving.
22. Best stored covered up at room temperature up to 4 days. Enjoy!

Christina

xx