Plum Frangipane Tart – sliced juicy plums and an easy almond frangipane baked to perfection in a buttery pastry case. Absolutely delicious served cold or warm with a dollop of clotted cream .
The combination of tart juicy plums on a soft almond filling inside perfect pastry make this plum and almond tart hard to resist.
Deceptively easy to make as I use my foolproof shortcrust pastry recipe from my Strawberry Tart.
Alternatively, you could make things even easier and use a ready made tart case. Then it’s time for an all in one frangipane filling creamed together in a matter of minutes. Lastly, slices of plum are placed on the frangipane filling before baking and glazing with jam.
I love making frangipane fruit tarts. Summer starts with cherry and almond tart before, at the height of summer, we move on to nectarine and plum. The weeks fly by, Autumn arrives and then it’s time to make my French Normandy tart.
Always a popular dessert at the Kitchen Shed, enjoyed by family and friends, my plum frangipane tart is a celebration of summer.
When we lived in France we were fortunate to have our own plum trees. Here in Wales we don’t have our own garden and I’ve really missed home grown fruit and veg. But this year we’ve been lucky enough to get an allotment, along with access to communal fruit trees. And right now the trees are fully loaded with juicy ripe plums.
I’m so pleased to be picking plums straight from the tree again rather than writing them on my shopping list. So far I’ve managed to bake plum frangipane tarts and pot up a batch of plum jam. Next on my to do list is a plum chutney and a Chinese style plum sauce.
What equipment do I need ?
- I use my KitchenAid to make the pastry and frangipane. Alternatively, you could use a hand held mixer or a wooden spoon or spatula if mixing by hand.
- Baking beans / pie weights to weigh down the pastry on its first bake. You can also use rice, dried peas, dried beans or lentils.
- 25 cm / 10 inch fluted, loose bottomed tart tin. A removable base really helps you to get the tart out in one piece.
What ingredients do I need ?
Pâte Sucrée / Sweet Shortcrust Pastry Ingredients
- Butter – I used salted butter at room temperature. Unsalted can be used, just add ½ teaspoon salt.
Icing sugar / confectioner’s sugar – works best because it more easily dissolves into the pastry. - Egg – I used 1 large egg.
- Ground almonds / almond meal – adds extra almond flavour to the tart.
- Plain flour / all purpose flour
Frangipane / Almond Cream and Plum Filling Ingredients
- Butter – salted butter at room temperature. If you use unsalted butter, add a ½ teaspoon of salt.
- Caster / extra fine sugar – do not use granulated sugar. The frangipane is made using the all in one method and granulated sugar will affect the baked frangipane’s texture.
- Ground almonds / almond meal – essential for that all important frangipane flavour.
- Plain flour / all purpose flour
- Baking powder – only ½ teaspoon but enough to compensate for less beating time.
- Almond extract – just ½ teaspoon to enhance the flavour of the almond frangipane.
- Eggs – I used large eggs at room temperature.
- Plums – about 8 to 10 large ripe plums.
- Apricot jam or icing sugar – use sieved jam to glaze or simply dust with icing sugar / powdered sugar.
- How to make Plum Frangipane Tart
How to make Plum Frangipane Tart
Make the Pâte Sucrée / Sweet Shortcrust Pastry Case
Pâte sucrée is easy to work with and much more forgiving than a rich shortcrust pasty. It’s almost like a crisp buttery biscuit shortbread. If you want to get ahead, make the pastry the day before and keep in the fridge. I like to keep a few in the freezer – once frozen pâte sucrée will keep for up to three months.
- Cream together the softened butter, salt and icing sugar.
- Add the egg with half of the flour and mix again.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and bring the pastry together by hand – DON’T overwork your pastry!
- Cover with cling film or plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. The longer you leave it the better, as mentioned above, you can even make it the day before.
- Remove from the fridge and leave to rest for about 10 minutes to soften a little.
- Roll the pastry out to form a circle large enough to fully line the tin. The pastry should be about the thickness of a £1 coin (3 mm / ⅛ inch)
- Carefully line your prepared tin with pastry, gently pressing into shape but trying not to stretch the pastry.
- Use a sharp knife to trim off excess pastry.
- Prick the bottom of the case with a fork and pop in the fridge for at least 15 minutes.
- Line your pastry case with baking parchment and fill with ceramic beans, rice or dried beans.
- Bake your pastry case in the oven for 15 minutes before removing the parchment and beans. Pop back in the oven and bake for a further 5 minutes.
Prepare Plums
- Slice the plums into 6 or 8 slices, removing the stones as you go.
Make the Frangipane
The frangipane / almond cream is so easy to make.
Simply add all the ingredients to the bowl of your stand mixer and beat for a couple of minutes. This simple process can be done equally as well by hand or with a handheld mixer.
Assemble and bake your tart
- Spread the frangipane evenly into your tart case.
- Arrange the sliced plums on top of the frangipane in concentric circles.
- Bake in a moderate oven for about 45 minutes until golden brown and firm to the touch.
- Remove from the oven and if glazing, brush with warmed apricot jam.
- Leave to cool in the tin before removing and serving.
How to serve Plum and Almond Tart
Enjoy warm or cooled with creme fraiche, ice cream or simply a dusting of icing sugar. As an extra indulgence, we often serve plum frangipane tart with a generous dollop of Homemade Clotted Cream.
How Long Does Frangipane Tart keep ?
Plum Frangipane Tart is best stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Can I freeze it ?
Yes, you can. Plum Frangipane Tart can be frozen for up to three months.
Open freeze the tart on a flat surface for two hours before transferring to a freezer bag or container.
Defrost thoroughly at room temperature before refreshing in the oven for 10 minutes at 180° C.
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More Fruit Tart Recipes
Plum Frangipane Tart
Equipment
- Stand Mixer I used a KitchenAid. Use a large bowl and wooden spoon if mixing by hand.
- set of baking beans / pie weights or rice, dried peas, lentils, beans
- Sheet of baking parchment
- 25 cm / 10 inch fluted, loose bottomed tart tin
Ingredients
Pâte Sucrée | Sweet Shortcrust pastry
- 125 g softened salted butter cut into small cubes or use unsalted butter plus ½ tsp salt
- 50 g icing sugar / confectioner’s sugar 4 tablespoons
- 1 large egg
- 50 g ground almonds / almond meal
- 200 g plain flour / all purpose flour
Frangipane:
- 110 g softened butter
- 110 g caster / extra fine sugar
- 110 g ground almonds / almond meal
- 35 g plain flour / all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 2 beaten eggs
Plum Topping:
- 400 g large plums about 8 to 10
Glaze
- 4 tbsp sieved apricot jam Optional
Instructions
Make your pastry:
- Use a paddle attachment at medium speed in a stand mixer to cream the softened butter and icing sugar. Mix until smooth and creamy – generally this will take about 2 minutes.
- Add egg and half of the flour. Use a slow machine speed to mix until the flour is incorporated.
- Remove the bowl from the machine before adding the ground almonds and the remaining flour.
- Bring the pastry together by hand but avoid overworking it.
- Wrap your pastry with cling film / plastic wrap before refrigerating it for at least 30 minutes. You can leave it to chill for up to a couple of hours.
- Grease a 25cm (10 inch) loose bottomed flan tin.
- Roll out your pastry between two sheets of baking parchment to prevent it sticking to work surface and rolling pin.
- Make sure the pastry circle is the right size for your flan tin. The circle needs to be slightly larger than the diameter of your flan tin plus twice the tin depth. The ideal pastry thickness should be that of a £1 coin (3 mm / ⅛ inch.)
- Carefully line your flan tin with pastry, gently pressing the pastry to follow the tin’s shape. Try not to stretch the pastry, and patch any cracks that might appear.
- Use a sharp knife to trim off excess pastry.
- Prick the bottom of the pastry case with a fork and then refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.
- Line your pastry case with baking parchment and fill with ceramic beans, rice or dried beans.
Bake your pastry case:
- Preheat oven to 200℃ / 180℃ fan / 400℉ / Gas Mark 6 and bake for 15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and carefully remove baking parchment and beans.
- Pop pastry case back in the oven for 5 minutes
- Leave to cool.
Plum Topping:
- Whilst your pastry case cools, slice the plums into 6 or 8 slices, removing the stones as you go.
How to make frangipane:
- Place all the frangipane ingredients into the bowl of your stand mixer and beat together for a couple of minutes.
- Evenly spread the frangipane into your pastry case.
Assemble your tart
- Arrange sliced plums on top of the frangipane. Start at the outer edge of the pastry case and place the plum slices in concentric circles.
Bake your Tart:
- Bake in the oven for 45 minutes at 200℃ / 180℃ fan /400℉ / Gas Mark 6 until the frangipane is golden brown and cooked through.
- Remove from the oven and brush with warmed apricot jam if glazing.
- Leave to cool before removing from the tin. Dust with icing sugar to serve.
Notes
- For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.
- Feel free to use a ready made tart case instead of making a pastry case.
- Serve warm or cool with a lovely dollop of creme fraiche and enjoy.
- Plum Frangipane Tart is best stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Can be frozen for up to three months. Simply open freeze the tart on a flat surface for two hours before transferring to a freezer bag or container.
- Defrost thoroughly at room temperature before refreshing in the oven.
- Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.