Frangipan & Fresh Fruit Tart

Monday, August 11, 2008

Today we learned how to make pies and tarts in my baking class.  We made a Frangipan Fresh Fruit Tart.

FRANGIPAN & FRESH FRUIT TART

(By Roberta L. Dowling)

Pate Sable -Tart Crust

2 Cups Flour

2 Tablespoons Confectioners' Sugar

1 Teaspoon Salt

12 Tablespoons unsalted butter

1 Egg plus 1 Tablespoon Ice Water (and more if needed)

1 Teaspoon Vanilla

Place the flour, confectioners' sugar and salt on countertop. Make a well, add the butter cut into 1 inch pieces. Rub the butter and flour between your fingertips until the mixture resembles meal. Mix the egg and ice water together. Toss some ice cubes with the water before measuring to make sure it is as cold as possible. Add the water and egg mixture a tablespoon at a time and fluff with your fingertips until large lumps form and the pastry is blended. Add additional water if necessary. Gather the dough into a ball and flatten the dough with the heel of your hand so that the butter will layer between the flour. Repeat once again. Refridgerate a minimum of 30 minutes or overnight.

Rolling Out Tart Dough

• Roll out dough between plastic if it is too soft.
• If the dough is hard, hit it a few times squarely with a rolling pin.
• Roll out dough to 1/8" thick circle.
• Dust lightly with flour and fold in quarters. Place it in the middle of the buttered tart pan. Open up the pastry and fit into pan, folding down excess to reinforce sides. Press the pastry against the fluted edges. Trim off excess dough.
• After pastry is rolled out, you can rest it in the refridgerator for 1 hour or freeze for 15 minutes before baking.
• Roll out on floured cool surface to about an 1/8 inch thick and place in greased tart pan(s).

Frangipan

1/2 Cup Softened Butter

1 Cup Almond Paste

2 Eggs, beaten

1 Teaspoon Lemon Rind

2 Teaspoons Flour

Cream the butter, stir in paste a bit at a time. Beat for a good amount of time until paste is incorporated and there are no lumps. Add eggs alternately in about four additions. Beating after each addition. Beat until smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients. Spread evenly into the tart crust. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees until golden brown and center is set well. Check after about 10 minutes and if it starts to brown too much, put a foil tent over the top to finish baking. Cool completely before adding your glaze and fruit.

Glaze

3/4 cup apricot jam

2-3 Tablespoons cognac, kirsh or other fruit liqueur

Heat jam in saucepan until smooth. Strain through sieve. Add flavoring and brush a little on top of the tart before adding your fruit and then after adding your fruit brush the entire tart with the glaze.

Fresh Fruit Options:

(anything you like)

1 Pint Fresh Strawberries

Fresh Figs

1 Pint Rasperries

2 Kiwi

Blueberries

Canned Madarin Organge Segments

Tips for Baking Pies

(Roberta L. Dowling)

• All ingredients must be cold: butter, water, your hands.
• Work Quickly and handle the dough as little as possible.
• Never pour all the water in at once
• Chill your dough to let the gluten rest and the butter firm up.
• Weather conditions will affect your dough; e.g., on a humid day, use less water.
• You know your dough has rested enough when you can poke it and the hole will remain without moving.
• Enclose your dough in plastic wrap or foil to prevent drying out; it can be stored 2 days in the refridgerator this way or frozen for several months.
• A cool marble slab is excellent is excellent for pastry; formica and butcher block are fine also. You can put ice on a baking sheet and set on work surface to cool it.
• Start pies at 425 degrees to help cook bottom of crust and prevent sogginess. Reduce heat to 350 degrees to insure proper cooking of the filling.
• Reduce heat by 25 degrees when using a glass pyrex pie plate.
• Always cut a vent in a double crust pie.
• Bake pies in lower half of the oven.