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Cherry Frangipane Tart - GBBO signature challenge

Hello friends,

 This week on the Great British Bake Off it was pastry week, and the signature challenge was Frangipane. Cue a multitude of different fruits glazes and delicious looking treats! I couldn't remember the last time I had a frangipane, so I skipped into town and went to my local bakery to sample one. Deciding it was indeed delicious I resolved that this would be my challenge for the week.

 When you are making a frangipane there are a few big decisions - Should you blind bake the pastry before filling? What fruit should you put on top (if any)? Should you coat the pastry base with a jam? I don't like soggy bottoms, so opted to blind bake for 20 minutes (although a lot of recipes skipped this step), I wanted a jam on the base for extra fruitiness and my topping of choice was cherries because the combination of cherry and almond is pure yumminess.

 An extra decision you can make is whether to make your own shortcrust pastry, or buy a ready made pack from the supermarket (both are acceptable in my eyes!)

 This was my first attempt at a frangipane and I am pretty pleased with the results - it isn't a hard dish to make, as long as you let it bake for long enough!


This makes a 23cm tart.

 Ingredients:

 For the pastry:
200g plain flour
100g butter diced
1 egg
1 tbsp caster sugar

 For the frangipane:
140g caster sugar
140g ground almonds
140g melted butter
250g cherries, pitted and halved

 Optional:

 Jam for spreading on the base of the tart
Flaked almonds for extra decoration

Method:

 To make the pastry, in a food processor mix the flour,butter, sugar and egg. Once combined add a small amount of water to bind the dough. Wrap in clingfilm and place in the fridge to cool.

 Preheat the oven to 180C/ 170C fan assisted. Roll out the pastry out until it is about 1cm thick, and place it in your tin. At this point it is good to have some overlap out of the tin as the pastry will shrink as it bakes. Fill the base of the tin with some baking parchment and cover with baking beans. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the beans and bake for a further 5 minutes to give the base some colour.

 While the base is baking you can make the frangipane. In a bowl mix together the melted butter, almonds and sugar so it forms a paste.

 When the tart has come out of the oven, coat the base with jam (if you are using it) then spoon in the frangipane mix. Arrange the halved cherries in a pretty pattern on top, and if you want some extra decoration sprinkle some flaked almonds on top. Bake for around 35 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.

 Allow to cool before serving alongside some whipped cream or ice cream for extra indulgence!



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