Strawberry Frangipane Tartlettes
There’s no secret that I love almonds and I love strawberries. They are both delicate ingredients that work well together or mixed with other flavors. But despite using them before in various combos, together or alone, I’ve never made frangipane before and I have to say that I fell in love with it. The delicate almond aroma, the fudgy, moist texture and the crunchy topping turn frangipane into something to remember, especially combined with a fragrant strawberry compote.
Frangipane is an almond cream that gets its taste from an Italian named Frangipane which means frangere il pane (breaking bread). Some recipes say it’s made with just ground almonds, butter and eggs, but other pastry chef add pastry cream to the mixture as well. I found that the addition of pastry cream makes the frangipane lighter, tastier and the texture becomes somewhat fudgy, moist, absolutely delicious! So in the end, these frangipane tartlettes are tiny wonders of the pastry world, little gems that can be made with all sort of fruits in so many flavor combos that I can only dream of!
Strawberry Frangipane Tartlettes
Ingredients
Crust:
- 140 g butter (softened)
- 70 g icing sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 30 g almond flour
- 280 g all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Strawberry Compote:
- 150 g strawberry puree
- 45 g white sugar
- 2 g lemon juice
- 4 g pectin NH
Frangipane:
- 75 g butter (softened)
- 75 g powdered sugar
- 75 g almond flour
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 10 g all-purpose flour
- 100 g pastry cream
Topping:
- Sliced almonds as needed
Instructions
Crust:
- Mix the butter and sugar in a bowl for 2 minutes until creamy and pale.
- Add the egg and vanilla and mix well.
- Stir in the almond flour, then add the flour and salt.
- Knead the dough slightly just until it comes together then wrap it in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 1 hour.
- After 1 hour, remove it from the fridge and place it on a floured working surface.
- Roll it into a thin sheet, about 2mm thickness, then cut it and mold it into small tartlettes rings or pans.
- Bake the crusts in the preheated oven at 350°F – 180°C for 12 minutes or until just slightly golden brown on the edges.
- Allow to cool down in the pan.
Strawberry Compote:
- Combine the strawberry puree, lemon juice and half of the sugar in a saucepan.
- Mix the remaining sugar and pectin in a bowl.
- Once the puree begins to boil, start adding the pectin mixture, little by little, mixing well while cooking.
- Once you finished adding the pectin, continue cooking for 2 more minutes then remove from heat, cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to cool down.
Frangipane:
- Mix the butter and sugar in a bowl for 2 minutes until creamy and pale.
- Add the egg yolks and vanilla and give it a good mix.
- Stir in the almond flour and flour and mix to combine then stir in the pastry cream and mix well.
- Spoon the frangipane into pastry bags fitted with a small round nozzle.
To finish the tartlettes:
- Spoon 1-2 teaspoons of strawberry compote at the bottom of each crust.
- Pipe a layer of frangipane on top and cover with slices of almonds.
- Bake in the preheated oven at 335°F – 170°C for another 15 minutes or until the frangipane looks golden brown.
- Allow the tartlettes to cool down in the pan before serving.
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