You Should Add Frangipane to Your Dessert Repertoire.
The first time I cooked frangipane was at culinary school and I remember thinking, “Oh, this should be everywhere .” It was so magical in taste and texture that I immediately recognized its potential, but my expression of awe was the culinary high school equivalent of a teenager saying, “You know, that Lady Celine Dion is really talented.” Frangipane has long been the star of many confections and desserts, and she is incomparably talented. Once you become familiar with the frangipane, you will immediately begin to use it creatively.
Frangipane is a fragrant, delicately sweet and flavorful mixture of almond flour, butter, sugar and eggs. Extracts, salt, other seasonings, and even baking powder can be added to this base mix to create lighter crumbs. You may also hear it referred to as “almond cream”. The dough for frangipane is thick but not dense and needs to be cooked. The eggs give the mixture a light flavor and the oil provides a luxurious richness, but most of the flavor comes from the almond flour or added extracts. Although these ingredients sound like a run-of-the-mill pie, the frangipane is a particularly delicate pie with an unmistakable almond flavor. A tender crumb is obtained due to the fact that the dough does not contain gluten. You will sometimes see recipes that include a tablespoon or two of flour to make the mixture thicker, but it will still retain its soft texture.
Although frangipane looks like a pie, it doesn’t have the same texture as layer cakes, so you rarely see it baked in thick layers. Frangipane shines best in small doses and as an unexpected layer in large desserts. Pitivier, or galette de rois , is a delicious frangipane dessert sandwiched between two layers of puff pastry. It looks unassuming, but once you cut it open, you will see the tempting hidden layer of almond cake. Almond croissants often hide the same sweet secret. Many bakeries open plain croissants, fill them with frangipane and on top, then close them and re-toast them. Others simply spread it over raw croissant dough so that the dough is baked with the almond mixture scattered between layers of butter and dough.
Since the frangipane puffs up and turns into a pie-like dough, you can flavor and bind the airy dough with a flick of the wrist, as in the pitiviers and croissants mentioned above, or you can separate it as a filling in tartlets . The sides of the pie pan provide enough support for the dough; usually you will also see fresh fruit. Choose fruits that you enjoy pairing with almonds, such as pears , cherries, apples, apricots, and ginger or blueberries. For a classic British dessert , try biscuit pie . Spread a thin layer of jam on a steamed tartlet before filling it with frangipane. Frangipane is high in fat, so it tends to melt if you add too much or if it’s baked without the support of other elements such as a skillet or pie basket. If you want to bake it alone or experiment, be sure to use a cake pan, bread pan, muffin pan, or mini muffin pan to shape it and catch any leakage.
Making frangipane is easy and does not require special equipment. Mix softened butter with sugar, almond flour, extracts (if using) and add eggs last. Recipes that include all-purpose flour usually add it as the last ingredient to help emulsify the eggs. I like to intensify the flavor of almonds in almost everything I make , which is why I added some almond extract in this recipe.
simple frangipane
Ingredients:
- 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 ¼ cups almond flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 2 eggs, room temperature
Mix all the ingredients together, in order. Use immediately in desserts or cover and refrigerate for up to a week. Bring to room temperature before use.