Gorge mamas in the UK who are celebrating Mother’s Day this weekend – bookmark this frangipane tart recipe and send it to your partners.
By Angela Clutton
Frangipane is more usually made with almonds, but switching for pecans gives a gorgeously warming, toffee-esque flavour and texture that is perfect with the chocolate and figs. This tart is dense and rich. Fabulously so. All you’ll need with it is a spoonful of lush cream, yoghurt or vanilla ice cream.
Serves 8–10
Ingredients
For the pastry
270g (9 ½ oz) plain (all-purpose) flour, plus extra for dusting
pinch of salt
1 orange
150g (5oz) cold butter
For the frangipane
200g (7oz) pecans
85g (3oz) dark chocolate, minimum 70% cocoa solids
3 star anise
200g (7oz) butter, at room temperature
100g (3 ½ oz) golden caster (superfine) sugar
100g (3 ½ oz) soft light brown sugar
2 eggs
25g (1oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
about 200g (7oz) ripe figs
icing (confectioners’) sugar, for dusting
22–23cm (9in) loose-bottomed tart tin
Method
- First, make the pastry: Sift the flour with the salt into a mixing bowl. Grate in the zest of the orange. Dice the butter, add to the bowl and mix into the flour with your fingertips until it looks like breadcrumbs. Add cold water to help it come together, but as little as you can get away with to form a smooth dough – start with just a couple of teaspoons. Shape into a disc, wrap and chill for 1 hour.
- Use that time to make the frangipane: Finely grind the pecans using a pestle and mortar or grinder, and set aside. Break the chocolate into a heatproof bowl suspended over a pan of simmering water (make sure the bowl isn’t touching the water). Add the star anise. Once the chocolate has melted, take the bowl off the pan so it can cool and the star anise can subtly infuse its flavour into the chocolate.
- Meanwhile, use a wooden spoon to cream together the butter and sugars in a large mixing bowl until light in colour and texture. Add the eggs, one at a time, incorporating well after each addition. Mix in the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the melted chocolate (discard the star anise) and lastly the ground pecans. Mix together and set aside.
- Lightly dust the work surface with flour and roll the pastry until generously large enough to fit the tart tin. Ease the pastry over your rolling pin and carefully lift over the tin, gently pressing it in. Let it overhang the tin as the pastry will shrink as it cooks. Prick the base a few times with a fork and chill for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 170°C fan/375°F/gas 5, with a large baking sheet inside.
- Sit the tart case on the hot baking sheet, line with a large piece of baking paper and fill with baking beans or rice. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the paper and beans and return to the oven for another 5 minutes. Take out of the oven and sit on a wire rack to cool, then trim the pastry before filling with the chocolate frangipane. Spread it over evenly. Cut each fig into slices or wedges, as you prefer, and arrange on top of the frangipane, gently pressing the figs in a little.
- Turn the oven down to 160°C fan/350°F/gas 4 and bake the tart for about 40 minutes until the surface is just about firm to the touch. Start checking at 30 minutes. If the pastry or topping is getting too dark, loosely cover with foil. Remove from the oven and cool for at least 15 minutes on a wire rack before releasing the tart from its tin.
- Dust with icing sugar and serve at room temperature, or while the warmth of the oven’s breath is still upon it.
Waste tip for Citrus (bergamot; lemon; lime; orange): Once you have zested away the fruit’s protective outer layer it will start to dry out. Juice it soon, and if you have no immediate use for the juice you can freeze it. Ice-cube trays are good for these relatively small amounts. Freeze slices of citrus fruits to use in drinks.
Images and text from Seasoning by Angela Clutton, photography by Patricia Niven. Murdoch Books RRP $55.
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