Equipment
Ingredients
Pate Sucree (Sweet Pastry)
- 120 g unsalted butter, room temperature
- 75 g icing sugar, sifted
- 25 g almond meal, fine
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 200 g cake flour, sifted
- 2 g fine sea salt
Frangipane (Almond Cream)
- 80 g unsalted butter, room temperature
- 80 g caster sugar
- 80 g almond meal
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 15 ml dark rum
Filling and Assembly
- 100 g fig jam, smooth
- 10 fresh figs, washed and dried
- 30 g apricot jam, strained
- 10 ml water
Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition is estimated per serving. Nutrients without complete source data are omitted.
Full nutrition
- Calories
- 524 kcal
- Protein
- 7 g
- Carbohydrates
- 62 g
- Fat
- 28 g
- Fiber
- 4 g
- Sugar
- 36 g
- Sodium
- 124 mg
- Saturated Fat
- 14 g
- Trans Fat
- 0 g
- Monounsaturated Fat
- 11 g
- Polyunsaturated Fat
- 3 g
- Cholesterol
- 100 mg
- Potassium
- 275 mg
- Calcium
- 73 mg
- Iron
- 2.8 mg
- Magnesium
- 51 mg
- Phosphorus
- 125 mg
- Zinc
- 0.8 mg
- Vitamin A
- 195 mcg
- Vitamin C
- 2 mg
- Vitamin D
- 0.3 mcg
- Vitamin E
- 4.2 mg
- Vitamin K
- 4 mcg
- Vitamin B6
- 0.1 mg
- Vitamin B12
- 0.2 mcg
- Thiamin
- 0.29 mg
- Riboflavin
- 0.36 mg
- Niacin
- 2.4 mg
- Folate
- 63 mcg
- Water
- 64 g
- Alcohol
- 1 g
Sources: Aggregated Public Data, USDA FoodData Central
Method
In a mixer bowl, cream the 120g of room temperature butter and icing sugar until smooth but not aerated. Mix in 25g of almond meal and the egg until combined. Fold in the cake flour and fine sea salt until just brought together into a dough.
Shape the dough into a flat disc, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour to allow the gluten to relax and the butter to firm up.
Roll out the chilled dough on a lightly floured surface to a 3mm thickness. Carefully lift and line the 23cm tart ring, pressing gently into the corners. Trim the overhang.
Prick the base of the tart shell all over with a fork. Chill the lined tart shell in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to prevent shrinkage during baking.
Preheat the oven to 160C/320F.
Line the chilled tart shell with crumpled parchment paper and fill to the brim with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 15 minutes at 160C/320F.
Carefully remove the parchment paper and weights. Return the tart shell to the oven and bake for an additional 5 minutes until the base is dry and lightly golden. Set aside to cool.
While the shell cools, prepare the frangipane. Cream 80g of butter and caster sugar until pale. Beat in 80g of almond meal, followed by the egg and dark rum until smooth.
Spread the fig jam in an even layer across the base of the partially baked, cooled tart shell. Pipe or gently spread the frangipane evenly over the jam layer, smoothing the top.
Bake the tart at 160C/320F for 25 minutes, or until the frangipane is puffed, deeply golden brown, and springs back slightly when touched.
Remove the tart from the oven and allow it to cool completely in the ring on a wire rack, about 1 hour.
Trim the tough stems from the fresh figs and slice them vertically into quarters or sixths, depending on their size.
Starting from the outer edge, arrange the fresh fig slices in tight, overlapping concentric circles until the entire surface of the cooled frangipane is covered.
In a small saucepan or microwave, gently heat the apricot jam and water until simmering. Brush this hot glaze lightly over the fresh figs to give them a brilliant shine and preserve their freshness.
Chef's Notes
- Using cake flour for the pate sucree provides a dramatically more tender, melt-in-the-mouth crust compared to all-purpose flour due to its lower protein content.
- For the cleanest tart edges, line your tart ring leaving a slight overhang of dough. After the blind bake, while the pastry is still warm, carefully shave off the overhang using a sharp paring knife held flat against the top edge of the ring.
- Temperature control is paramount for frangipane. If your butter is too cold, the emulsion will break; if it is too warm, the oils will separate during baking, resulting in a greasy tart.
- The layer of fig jam not only intensifies the fig flavor but acts as a moisture barrier between the frangipane and the crust, helping preserve crispness.
- Choose figs that are yielding but not mushy. Overripe figs will release too much moisture onto the tart after slicing, compromising the frangipane below.
Storage
Refrigerator: 3 days — Keep loosely covered to prevent the crust from becoming entirely soggy, though softening is inevitable.
Freezer: 1 month — Freeze the baked tart with frangipane before adding the fresh figs and glaze. Thaw and top with fresh figs before serving.
Troubleshooting
Tart crust shrinks down the sides of the ring during baking
Cause: Dough was stretched rather than pressed into the corners, or was not chilled sufficiently before baking
Fix: Cannot be fixed once baked
Prevention: Always lift and drop the dough into the corners without pulling it, and ensure a full 30-minute chill before the oven
Frangipane overflows the tart shell
Cause: Overmixing the frangipane incorporated too much air, or the tart shell was too small
Fix: Trim the excess baked frangipane with a serrated knife once cooled before adding the fresh figs
Prevention: Mix the frangipane only until combined; do not whip it like a sponge cake batter
Soggy tart base
Cause: Blind baking was too short or oven temperature was too low
Fix: Cannot be fixed once assembled and baked
Prevention: Ensure the base looks dry and pale golden before adding the moist jam and frangipane layers
Cultural Context
The classic French fruit tart is a masterclass in contrasting textures and harmonizing flavors. Frangipane, an almond-based pastry cream named after a 16th-century Italian nobleman, acts as the traditional, sponge-like anchor in these tarts. When paired with the honeyed, jammy notes of late-summer Mediterranean figs, the resulting dessert perfectly bridges the transition from summer brightness to autumn richness.
