Plum Frangipane Tart

By Inger Aug 8, 2021 Cooking & Recipes, Desserts & Snacks 18 Comments

With ripe plums and rich almond cream atop a flaky crust, plum frangipane tart is a beautiful dessert that’s super easy to make!

Awhile back I made a pear frangipane tart that I loved. And with my Sunday blogging friends doing stone fruit recipes, I thought I’d make a plum tart. Frangipane of course.

I am now officially addicted, but my love for this was a long time coming. You see I am an almond flavoring hater.

What is frangipane and why doesn’t it taste like almond extract?

Per Wikipedia, frangipane “is a sweet almond-flavored custard used in a variety of ways including cakes and such pastries as the Bakewell tart… Today it is normally made of butter, sugar, eggs, and ground almonds.“

Now for years, I’d looked at frangipane tarts sadly. Since frangipane is made from almonds, and I hate almond extract, I always figured I wouldn’t like it.

Something about this had always confused me, though, since I like almonds themselves. But as I did some research, it turns out there are two kinds of almonds, bitter and sweet. Most people like the sweet almond but the bitter flavor is loved by some and hated by others.

Commercial almonds in the US are the sweet variety. The extract, however, derives its flavor from a chemical in the bitter almond. And as it turns out, that bitter almond chemical can turn into cyanide poison if eaten.

Now almond extract doesn’t have the chemical, just the flavor, so it’s safe–which doesn’t help if it still tastes bad to you. But happily, you can make frangipane with just the (sweet) almonds! Yum!

Why you’ll love this tart

And in the end there are so many reasons to love this tart! These include

A flakey pie crust that you don’t need to make yourself since it uses commercial puff pastry
No pre-baking of the crust is required
Makes beautiful use of seasonal stone fruit (or boozy fruit saved from prior harvest—see Ingredients below for this option)
Easy to make (shhh)
Elegant enough for company

Ingredients & Substitutions

Puff Pastry Crust. I used Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry since the size is very close to my pan size (7 x 11″) which means very little rolling.

You can also use a standard pie crust if you’d like but then you should blind bake it first (see King Arthur for how to blind bake)

Frangipane Filling. I use finely ground blanched almond flour. People will grind their own, but I use almond flour enough to keep it around. If you want to grind your own you will need to take care to get it finely ground but stop before it becomes almond butter.

I use vanilla extract in my frangipane. You can use almond extract instead. If you must. It is also possible to make frangipane with other nuts like hazelnuts or pistachios.

What’s this about boozy fruit? Most people will use fresh plums in their plum tarts, but I used plums that were preserved in brandy last fall (see my brandied plums post for more information).

You can use other stone fruit like apricots or peaches as well. Pears are also good but I recommend changing the styling for them. My Pear Frangipane Tart recipe is very similar but the look is better for the larger fruit.

Step by Step Directions

Roll out puff pastry to a 9 x 13 rectangle. Center and press into prepared pan Place the pan in the freezer to chill while you prepare the rest.

Cut plums into ¾ inch slices. Mix frangipane ingredients in a mixer.

Remove the crust from the freezer and spread evenly with frangipane (it will expand as it bakes).

Set plum slices in three long rows

Bake for approximately 35 minutes until frangipane is set and slightly golden. Sprinkle sliced almonds around outer 1 ½ inch of tart. Sprinkle coarse sugar on top of almonds.

Place back in oven until deep gold, another 5-10 minutes. Remove and cool, then serve.

Notes and Tips

I made this in a 7 x 11 inch pan with a removable bottom. The Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry comes in a 9 x 9 section that I rolled out to about 9 x 13. I then folded over the extra crust as I pressed it into the pan. You can cut off any extra crust if you prefer thinner edges.

The frangipane which will expand dramatically as it cooks and will end up about even with the top of the pan. I recommend that you use reasonably thick plum slices to see more above the frangipane (see above) than I have in my main photos.

Plums come in a wide variety of sizes, so the number that you’ll need will vary by size. Buy extra and eat the leftovers!

Scrumptious Stone Fruit Recipes

Cherry Liqueur by That Recipe
Air Fryer Grilled Peaches by Blogghetti
Cherry Scones by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
No Churn White Peach Ice Cream by Magical Ingredients
Old-Fashioned Date Squares by Palatable Pastime
Plum Frangipane Tart by Art of Natural Living

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