EPICURIOUS’ PEACH-FRANGIPANE TART

In September, 2008, I made the most delicious peach frangipane tart.  The tart has three components:  pastry dough, frangipane and fruit filling.  I used a standard gallette dough and my own peach filling.  The frangipane was made using a recipe on the back of Bob’s Red Mill almond flour.  There was no reason to try any other frangipane recipe, because Bob’s was superb.  But, thinking that Epicurious might have a better one, I ventured out.  The Epicurious recipe uses double the amount of almond flour and egg, and I thought it might possibly be a new favorite.  I was wrong.  Bob’s Red Mill has the best recipe for frangipane, IMHO.  The flavors are spot on and there’s just the right amount of almond flour.  I’m not saying the Epicurious recipe is bad.  It’s just richer, but still very good.  Topped with Dove raspberry sorbet-vanilla ice cream, it’s a little bit of heaven.  When I make another frangipane tart, though, you can bet I’ll use Bob’s recipe.

PEACH-FRANGIPANE TART Adapted from epicurious.com Rating:  8 out of 10 PRINTABLE PAGE

CRUST:  Flaky Cream Cheese Pie Crust PEACH FILLING:  1 Tbsp. butter 1/4 cup peach or apricot preserves 3 large peaches, peeled, sliced 2 Tbsp. peach brandy FRANGIPANE:  3/4 cup almond flour (about 3-1/2 oz.) 1/3 cup sugar 2 Tbsp. amaretto or other almond-flavored liqueur 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature 1 egg In large skillet, heat butter, preserves, peaches and brandy over medium heat till peaches are just cooked through but still slightly firm.  Transfer peaches to large baking sheet to cool.  Boil liquids in skillet to a syrup and pour over peaches.  Cool completely.   Roll out pie crust to fit a 9” tart pan with removable sides.  Trim and finish edges so they are slightly above the top edges, then turn the edges so they form a lip.  Press onto the outside edges of the pan to lock them in.  This will keep the dough from shrinking when you blind bake it.  Pierce lightly all over with a fork, then refrigerate for 30 minutes to set the dough.  This is another step to keep the dough from shrinking.  Preheat oven to 400F.  Place a round of parchment paper in the tart dough, fill with weights or beans, and bake about 10 minutes.  Remove parchment and weights, prick the dough again lightly being careful not to go all the way through.  Bake another 5 minutes, or till crust is light brown.  Cool completely on rack. In small bowl, combine frangipane ingredients.  Mix with spoon or spatula till well combined; spread over cooled crust.  Top with peaches and syrup.  Bake about 20 minutes, till filling starts to bubble up and brown.  Cool on rack.  Serve at room temperature with whipped cream or ice cream.  Yield:  8 servings  (This is best eaten the day it is baked.)