Cherry & Chocolate Frangipane Tart

Hi there. I catered for a group of Geology college students from the US this week so have been super busy but because there are still plenty of plump little cherries around I carved out some time to squeeze in one of my favourite chocolate tarts. One of my favourite recipes from pastry school because it’s so simple, but delicious. It’s filled with fresh cherries and a dark chocolate frangipane filling and it’s gorgeous with it’s slightly nutty flavour and sludgy chocolate brownie texture!

Frangipane, not just a beautiful flower but also the name of a delicious ground almond filling from France that has been recorded in books as far back as 1732! It can be used as a filling in tarts, cakes and pastries (I love it in crossiants). It consists of butter, sugar, eggs, ground almonds and often a small amount of flour and can be flavoured, like it is with chocolate in this tart.

INGREDIENTS

115 grams butter
115 grams castor sugar
3 small eggs
115 grams ground almonds
30 grams standard flour
225 grams good-quality dark chocolate
250 grams fresh cherries (approx 1 1/2 cups)
2 tablespoons sliced almonds

x 1 – 26 cm W x 2.5 cm D round chocolate sweet short crust pastry tart shell. The recipe is here or if you would prefer a plain shell without cocoa, go here.

Notes

I start to prepare the pastry shell first and then during the pastry’s second resting period (with the beans in and in the fridge) I make the frangipane filling. I like to have the filling ready to put into the shell whilst the shell is still hot because it helps to seal the pastry.
The seeds of half a vanilla pod or 1 tablespoon of orange zest would be lovely added to the pastry for this tart (you can see where to add them into the pastry in the recipe).

WALKTHROUGH

So to begin the filling, get the butter from the fridge, cut it into small cubes and leave it out on the bench in a medium-sized bowl so it can reach room temperature.

To melt the chocolate use a double boiler or find a heat proof bowl that fits snuggly into a small saucepan. Break the chocolate up into squares, or rougly chop it up and place it in the bowl (leave whole, if buttons). Fill the saucepan 1/4 full with water and then place the bowl on top. Now remove the bowl and check that the bottom is dry because you don’t want the bottom of the bowl to touch the water as it will get too hot and may burn some of the chocolate (it could cease up and be ruined). Then place the bowl of chocolate to the side and over a medium heat bring the water in the pan to the boil and then turn the heat down to medium/low so that it’s just simmering (a soft boil). Place the bowl back on top of the pan of simmering water and stir often until the chocolate has thoroughly melted and then take the melted bowl of chocolate off the saucepan and set it aside. Or using the microwave on HIGH place the bowl of chocolate in for 1 min 30 secs, taking it out to stir every 30 seconds and if not melted after that time, place it back in at 20 second increments until it’s melted (stirring each time).

Next, prepare the cherries. Remove the stones with a cherry stoner or cut them in half around the pip, separate the two halves and then flick the stone out with the tip of a small knife.

If your oven isn’t still on from baking the pastry shell, turn it on now, preheat it to 150°C fan bake oven or 170°C conventional oven, on bake, with a rack situated just below the centre of the oven.

Now add the castor sugar to the bowl with the butter and using an electric beater on medium, cream the two together until pale and fluffy (between 3 – 5 minutes).

Still on medium speed, beat in the eggs one at a time, beating each one in well. It will look a tad ‘curdly’ but it’s all good, it will come right.

Then add the ground almonds, flour and…….

…….melted dark chocolate.

Using a wooden spoon now, gently fold it all together. Excited yet? You should be!

So that’s the filling done, told you it was simple. Now scrap the Frangipane filling from the bowl into your baked tart shell (and as already said, preferably when the tart shell is still hot as it helps seal the pastry) and then poke the cherries in all over the top (stem side up) so they are halfway in.

To finish it off, sprinkle the almonds all over.

Place the tart in the oven and bake for 45 minutes or until a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean. Also you can test it by gently pushing a fingertip into the centre (making a slight dent)) and if it springs back it is done but I the indent remains it may need another ten minutes.

There you go, a lovely French Frangipane Tart. Best cooled down for half an hour out of the oven and served warm or the next day you can microwave each piece on medium for 30-40 seconds.

Great with Crème Chantilly and/or cherry, chocolate or vanilla ice-cream.

Storage – Keep covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, it will still taste great if warmed up a little.