dinner party: the finale

Don’t be intimidated by pastry dough. It is really pretty simple to put together and once you’ve made it a time or two, you’ll surely get the hang of it. Your food processor is your friend for this recipe. Just remember, the key to achieving a flaky dough is to minimally pulse your dough and use cold butter and ice water to blend it all together. 

You will need a 9 inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom for this recipe. Begin by pulsing together flour, blanched almonds, sugar and salt in food processor, until the nuts are finely ground. Before using, I cut my stick of butter into pieces and then stick it into the freezer for a few minutes to chill. 

Add the butter bits to the flour, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix in almond extract and ice water, a tablespoon at a time, until the dough just forms clumps when you squeeze it in your hand. You may need more or less water, depending on many factors (heat, humidity). Just be sure not to over process the dough.

Pour out flour mixture on a work surface. Knead briefly to combine and then flatten the dough into a disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 2 hours, or up to a day.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the crust to a 13 inch round using a floured rolling pin. Baking tip: keep turning the dough a quarter turn clockwise after each roll to help keep it round; if it cracks, just squeeze it back together. 

Roll dough around the pin to facilitate placing it in the tart pan. Gently lay it over the pan and press down; cut off any excess and fill any gaps with the scraps. Freeze for 15 minutes.

Place tart pan on a baking sheet and pierce bottom lightly with a fork. Bake crust for 10 minutes, turn, then continue baking for another 12 to 14 minutes until pale golden brown.
Cool on baking sheet for 15 minutes.

In the meanwhile, make the frangipane. In the cleaned food processor, blend together blanched almonds, sugar, room temperature butter, egg, vanilla extract, almond extract, dark rum and grated lemon peel.

Spread the frangipane filling in the slightly cooled crust. Halve plums and remove their pits. On a work surface, place each plum half cut side down and, using the sharp tip of a knife, cut into thin slices without cutting through the end. Press down gently to fan the slices out. Continue until all plums are cut; place fanned out plum halves, skin side up, on top of the frangipane. Press down gently to secure on top of the filling.

Place tart on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, until plums are tender and frangipane is puffed and golden. Transfer to a rack to cool. When cool, tart may be covered and reserved at room temperature for a day.

Make the glaze: in a small saucepan, mix together 2 tablespoons apricot jam and 2 teaspoons brandy or cognac. Bring just to a boil. Pour mixture through a fine strainer into a small bowl. Lightly brush glaze all over tart.

Serve wedges of this tart with a dollop of creme fraiche, for a tangy creamy contrast. 
Trop délicieux!

Serves 8:

Almond Crust:

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup slivered blanched almonds
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into bits
3/4 teaspoon almond extract
2 tablespoons (or more) ice water

Frangipane:

1 cup slivered blanched almonds
1/3 cup sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon dark rum
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

5 large plums, halved

Glaze:
2 tablespoons apricot jam
2 teaspoons brandy or cognac

creme fraiche

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