“Do you ever get that every-cell-of-your-body excitement when something delicious is afoot? It happens to me when opening a packet of salt and vinegar crisps or inhaling the initial spicy waft of cinnamon doughnuts. In this recipe, it is the moment when the brown butter base meets the frangipane aromatics. I literally quiver with an-tici-pation of the tartlet to come.
Don’t go rogue and think browning all the butter will take the flavour further – it actually just leaves a greasy film on the palate. And while ninety-nine per cent of the planet abhors marzipan flavour, a strict drop of almond essence will bump the nuttiness up a nut-ch – giving it a je ‘nut’ sais quoi.
Chilling the freshly made frangipane base gifts you a magical echo of fluffiness juxtaposed with a relishable cakey chew. If I bake without the chill, it pouffs airily over the sides. If I increase the almond meal or don’t build an airy base, the filling will feel heavy and dry. This is baking balance. This is zen and the art of frangipane fluff maintenance,” writes Natalie Paull
Makes 6 tartlets, or a tart for you to eat nearly every day of the week.
WHAT YOU NEED
For the brown butter frangipane
140g (5oz) unsalted butter, cool and pliable
cooking oil spray
120 g (41⁄2 oz) caster (superfine) sugar
20 g/ml (3⁄4 oz) dark rum (or Amaretto)
5 g (1/8 oz/1⁄2 teaspoon) vanilla paste
A strict drop of almond essence (if you’re okay with it)
2 large eggs
190g (61⁄2 oz) blanched almond meal
2g (1/16 oz/1/4 teaspoon) fine sea salt
For the topping
8–10 fresh figs
50 g (13/4 oz) flaked almonds
15 g (1⁄2 oz) unsalted butter
20 g (3⁄4 oz) raw (or demerara) sugar
For the super flaky buckwheat crust
225g (8 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
135g (5 oz) buckwheat flour 2 g (1/16 oz/1/4 teaspoon) fine sea salt
225 g (8 oz) unsalted butter, cold and sliced into small tiles 2 cm (3⁄4 in) square and 5 mm (1⁄4 in) thick
110g/ml (4 oz) iced water 20 g (3⁄4 oz) egg yolk (from approx. 1 egg)
WHAT TO DO
For the super flaky buckwheat crust
Put the flours and salt in a wide mixing bowl. Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the dry ingredients just until the butter lumps are the size of whole almonds and the surrounding flour feels like silky almond meal with buttery lumps throughout.
These large butter lumps are going to melt during baking, creating steam, which will flake the pastry apart unbelievably!
Combine the iced water and egg yolk together and then add to the buttery flour. Keep mixing with your hands, lightly squeezing the dough together, until it looks like crumbly/shaggy playdough. Wrap the dough lightly in plastic, then flatten, by squeezing, into a 2 cm (3/4 in) thick round disc with smooth sides. If you are making this for a double-crusted pie, halve the batch into two 350 g (121/2 oz) pats to make rolling easier.
For the brown butter frangipane
Take the chilled Super flaky buckwheat crust out of the fridge and allow to become cool and pliable for rolling (around 30 minutes). You’ll need a half batch.
While the dough softens, start the frangipane.
Cook 70 g (21/2 oz) of the butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat, until it turns a foamy tan brown. Scratch the browned bits off the base with a wooden spoon as it cooks, and keep a close watch – we want burnt butter, but not TOO burnt butter. Scrape it into the bowl of an electric stand mixer and chill for 30 minutes.
Spray six 10cm (4 in) individual tart tins with cooking oil. While the brown butter chills, roll the dough on a lightly floured work surface to a sheet approximately 40 cm × 40 cm (153/4 in × 153/4 in) and 2–3 mm (1/8 in) thin. Cut six 12 cm (43/4 in) circles wide enough to fully line the sides of the tart tins.
Working one at a time, lay a dough circle on top of a tin and gently push the dough in. Working around the circle, push the dough to snugly fit against the side and base. Press the dough against the upper side and use your fingers to push off any overhang. Collect up the excess dough and freeze it for a future batch of frangipane. Keep the tartlet shells chilled while you finish the frangipane.
To the cooled yet still soft brown butter, add the remaining 70g of butter, sugar, rum, vanilla and almond essence. Inhale the beauty! Using the paddle attachment, beat the ingredients on speed 5 (medium) for about 5 minutes until the mix is pale and fluffy. Stop and scrape down the sides twice.
While the butter beats, immerse the uncracked eggs in hot tap water for 5 minutes, then crack and weigh 100g (31/2 oz). Break them up with a fork and add to the butter mix in four small additions, still on speed 5 (medium), allowing the creamed base to re-fluff up in between each addition. Stop and scrape as needed.
Warming the whole egg up means it will incorporate better with the creamed butter/sugar base. An airy butter/sugar/egg base brings lightness to the baked frangipane mix.
If the base does ‘break’ and look curdled, just continue. Your frangipane will bake a little denser but will still be HUGE on flavour.
Stop the mixer, add the almond meal and salt and beat on speed 2 (above low) for 10 seconds. Off the mixer, give the frangipane a final, thorough stir with a stiff plastic spatula so no butter streaks remain. Divide the frangipane mix into the dough-lined tart shells to sit 2mm (1/16 in) below the tart tin edge. Smooth the frangipane. Chill the filled shells, uncovered, for an hour (or covered overnight) before topping.
There may be a little leftover frangipane in case your tart tins are bigger. The leftover freezes perfectly.
Prep the figs by nicking the tip of the stem off each one. Cut the figs into elongated quarters or sixths, keeping the slices separate so they don’t smoosh.
Place the fig pieces on the tartlets, reclining them slightly so they look like they are on an almondy batter beanbag. You may not use all the fruit – be guided by how pleasingly you think the fruit covers the tart tops. Pinch small fingerfuls of the flaked almonds and push them into the frangipane around and alongside the figs.
To bake: preheat your oven to 170°C (340°F) and place a heavy baking tray inside. Melt the butter and drizzle over the top of the tarts with a spoon or pastry brush, then sprinkle the raw sugar over the top.
The sugar and butter form a fetching crisp gloss over the extremities of the fig and the almonds.
Ready to bake! Slip the tartlets onto the preheated tray in the oven and set the timer for 35–40 minutes. The top and crust sides will look deeply golden tanned; even a little dark brown highlight is lovely (and very French!). Lift up a centre fig to check the frangipane texture below – it should look like baked cake underneath and not liquid batter, although a teeny hint of gooeyness is okay (95°C/205°F internal temperature).*
If you need reassurance about base cooked-ness, carefully invert one tart into a tea towel (dish towel) and assess the base crust colour. Slip the tart back in to continue baking if needed.** A LOT of butter will come out of these – that’s okay!
Cool for 5 minutes before removing from the tins – if these are left too long, the butter will cool and harden, fusing the crust to the tin. If this happens, re-warm in a 150°C (300°F) oven for 10 minutes, then remove.
* The fruit sinks (and some of the almonds). This can happen if the frangipane batter gets too fluffy, doesn’t chill or your tart tin is too deep. Don’t let your heart sink like the fruit, just call it a Bakewell (see left), dust with icing sugar when cool and keep living your best baking life. As long as the fruit is in there, it’s still a great tart and you are a legend for baking it!
** The bases haven’t coloured but the topping is well cooked. Warm up a heavy flat pan and keep it on a steady and low heat. Place the tartlets on the pan in batches to cook the bottom pastry. Keep an eagle eye on them.
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