Recipe: Michael Van de Elzen’s Plum Frangipane Puff Tart
A delicious dessert full of nostalgia for chef Michael Van de Elzen.
Recipe: Michael Van de Elzen
Frangipane is one of my favorite flavours. When I was young, my mum kept Dutch frangipane biscuits in the cupboard. I remember them coming in a fancy packet from the Dutch shop in Henderson.
They were expensive, so as kids we were never allowed near them unless we had some special guests coming over. The taste of the frangipane-flavoured filling within the biscuit was out of this world. These days, I get my mixer out and make my own, but this delicious tart is even easier.
Serves: 4
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
INGREDIENTS
125g butter, softened
125g caster sugar
3 eggs
125g ground almonds
1 tbsp plain flour
2 sheets frozen puff pastry
6 plums (canned or fresh), de-stoned and halved
150ml balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp brown sugar
150ml crème fraiche
handful mint leaves to garnish
TIP: Feel free to change the fruit out for other stone fruits. Grapes work well: lightly oil, then pop into a hot frypan and char slightly. The charring takes away the overly sweet taste and adds a new flavour dimension.
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Beat one of the eggs with a fork to make an egg wash. Brush this around the edge of one of the sheets of puff pastry.
Cut a 5cm-wide ‘frame’ from the other pastry sheet and lay this on top of the egg-washed sheet. Pinch the edges together and prick the centre of the pastry with a fork.
Lay the pastry sheets on a baking tray lined with baking paper, then spread out half the plums with the cut side facing up.
In a food processor, blitz the butter, sugar, two eggs, almonds, and flour. Spoon this mix into the centre of the pastry sheets. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool.
Add the balsamic and brown sugar to a small saucepan and heat until you have reduced it to a thick liquid, about 3 tbsp. Mix 1 tbsp through the crème fraiche.
Coat the remaining plums in the rest of the balsamic-brown sugar reduction. Spoon these over the tart, along with the crème fraiche. Garnish with mint leaves.
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This article first appeared in NZ Lifestyle Block Magazine.
