Apple Frangipane Tart

After enjoying lots of baking in lockdown since the children have been on summer holidays I have not had a moment to do any and have missed it so today after seeing how many apples we had in the orchard I have taken some time out to make something with them! I thought this apple frangipane tart looked nice and it appealed as it looked relatively simple to make! I feel I have cheated a bit as the recipe used ‘ready rolled shortcrust pastry’ but with little time at the moment it helped me out! If you decide to try yourself I hope you enjoy. It makes a great addition to a cup of tea or something sweet after supper!

Ingredients

Store bought ready rolled shortcrust pastry
225g caster sugar
230g unsalted butter (room temperature)
135g ground almonds
Apples – I used 2.5 apples from the orchard
2 whole eggs, lightly beaten
4 tablespoons plan flour
2 teaspoons caster sugar
2 extra tablespoons ground almonds

Instructions for pastry

* Line a 24cm flan tart tin with pastry.

* With a fork prick the base of the pastry around 12 times.

* Refrigerate for 1 hour – chilling the pastry after handling, helps to relax and reduce shrinkage during baking!

* Preheat oven to 180c.

* Once pastry is chilled trim excess pastry from pie shell with knife around edge of tin.

*  Line pastry shell with a sheet of foil that is larger than the tin and fill pastry shell with ceramic baking beads.

* Bake for 15 minutes or until pastry is firm, then remove from the oven.

* Remove the beads, set aside and allow to cool.

Instructions for apple frangipane filling

* Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.

* Scrape sides of bowl and gradually add eggs and yolks and mix to combine.

* Add the ground almonds and mix to combine.

* Add flour and mix to combine.

* Beat extra egg and using pastry brush paint the pastry shell – this helps to seal moisture.

* Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of extra ground almonds evenly on the base of the pastry shell.

* Spread the frangipane evenly into the tart crust.

* Slice apple into thin slices and arrange the slices starting with the outside edge and work your way to the centre. Be warned the apples will turn brown very quickly!

* Sprinkle extra sugar evenly over apple slices.

* Bake until filling is set (about 45 minutes) – start checking around the 40 minute mark.

* Cool to room temperature.

* Serve with cream or creme fraiche and enjoy!