Nectarine Frangipane Tart
Is there anything more delicious than a fresh, ripe Nectarine? I just can’t get enough of them at the moment and try to eat them everyday (if my kids don’t finish them all before I get a chance to grab one). I’ve never really cooked with nectarines and wanted to do something quite special with them so I decided to make a tart with them. After much deliberation and research (gosh, I’m making it sound quite serious, aren’t I?), I decided to make a Frangipane tart.
When I was younger I had this idea that frangipane tarts are hard work and that only experienced pastry chefs could pull them off. How silly I was. It could not be easier to make and I was so pleased with the end result. The frangipane had a subtle almond flavour, wasn’t overly sweet and worked perfectly with the sweet almost tart nectarines. I also loved how the nectarines go chewy from the time spent in the oven. Just delicious!
I decided to serve the frangipane tart with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and fresh raspberries to add more fruitiness. My guests loved it and it’s something I’ll definitely be making more often. Easy and delicious, just the way I like it!
Makes 1 x 30cm tart
shortcrust pastry
300g cake flour
200g cold butter, cubed
100g icing sugar
3 egg yolks
frangipane – nectarine filling
150g butter, room temperature
150 caster sugar
2ml almond essence
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
150g ground almonds
50g flour
2 large nectarines, sliced into thin wedges
vanilla ice cream, to serve
fresh raspberries, to serve
- To make the short crust pastry : In a food processor, pulse the cake flour, butter and icing sugar until the mixture resembles course breadcrumbs.
- Add the egg yolks and process until the mixture forms a ball.
- Tip the pastry onto a flour surface and form into a disc. Wrap in clingfilm and allow to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- To make frangipane filling, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the almond essence, eggs and egg yolk and mix until combined.
- Fold in the ground almonds and flour. Set aside.
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°c.
- Remove the pastry from the fridge and on a floured surface, roll out to approximately 3mm thick. Line the bottom and sides of a greased tart tin with the pastry.
- Spread the frangipane mixture over the pastry and top with the sliced nectarines.
- Place the tart in the oven and allow to bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature before serving with ice cream and fresh raspberries.
