As you all know, I Adore marzipan so when I bought some beautiful figs and discovered this tart from Spoon Feast it was instant love! It’s easy to put together and is really elegant if I do say so myself. I had it cooled and warm from the oven. BOTH are incredible.
Here’s all you do:
Yield: two 9 1/2 inch tarts
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- Pinch of salt
- 9 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 large egg
Sift together the confectioners’ sugar, flour and salt into a bowl.
Place the butter into a food processor and process until smooth.
Scatter the flour mixture over the butter, add the egg and process just until the dough forms a mass; do not over mix.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least for an hour.
Line a greased 9 1/2 inch tart pan with half the dough and chill for 30 minutes. Keep the other half for another use.
For the frangipane:
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 cup slivered almonds
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Place the sugar and the slivered almonds in the bowl of a food processor and process until finely ground; about 2 minutes.
Add the butter and process until combined.
Add the eggs and the almond extract and process until smooth; about 1 minute.
Add the flour and process until combined.
Use ¾ cup for this recipe. Extra frangipane can be frozen until another use. Use fresh frangipane within a week if kept refrigerated.
For the figs:
- 2 pints fresh figs, quartered.
Keep enough uncooked figs aside to ring the outside of the tart
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 vanilla bean, split & scraped
- sugar to taste*
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large pan, add the vanilla seeds and beans and the quartered figs and sauté until they have a jam like consistency but retain their shape.
Use sugar to taste.* Often you don’t need it.
Cool the mixture.
For the custard:
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon Cognac (or to taste)
Whisk together the eggs and sugar in a medium bowl, about 3 minutes. Whisk in the cream and cognac.
To assemble and finish this tart, you will need:
- One 9-1/2 inch tart shell made from sweet tart dough, unbaked
- 3/4 cup frangipane
- Quartered figs and sautéed figs, cooled
- Custard mixture
- Slivered almonds
Preheat the oven to 325°F.
Spread an even layer of frangipane over the prepared tart pan. Bake for 14 minutes, until the frangipane layer is puffed but not set. Cool. Arrange some uncooked fig quarters around the edge of the tart Add the fig ‘jam’ mixture on the baked frangipane layer, inside of the fresh fig ring. Pour the custard mixture over the figs. Sprinkle the top with some slivered almonds. Bake for 50 minutes, until the custard is set and the pastry is golden brown.
Cool the tart completely on a wire rack before cutting and serving.
Um, yeah I sorta cheated on the directions, put them all in in the order suggested and baked for an hour. It was beautiful. Next time I will bake for 14 minutes, and then arrange and bake for another 50. Mine was stunning and so was the original. Just don’t wait. Summer is here with so many beautiful figs!
Bon Appétit!
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