Apricot Frangipane Tart is hands-down one of the best desserts ever. The buttery, flaky shortcrust pastry encases juicy apricots, a sweet-sour layer of apricot jam, and a deliciously creamy almond frangipane filling. It’s super yummy, delicate, and a real showstopper!

I loooove stone-fruit season. Nectarines? I adore them. Plums? Great for baking. Apricots? A sweet-sour snack – and also perfect for baking. Stone-fruit can be added into streusel cakes, muffins, galettes, pies, tarts, you name it – check out my Plum Hazelnut Frangipane Tart I made last year.

I know the apricot season is almost over, but I couldn’t leave this recipe to go unpublished for yet another year. Once you’ve made and tried this Apricot Frangipane Tart, you won’t be baking anything else anymore 😉 Trust me, it truly is as good as I’m describing it.

Why you’ll love this Apricot Frangipane Tart

• The Apricot Frangipane Tart is really simple to make. It’s a little bit time-consuming, yes, but if you’re in a crunch, a lot of the components can be made ahead, or you can even use store-bought options.
• The frangipane filling is to die for. It’s made with ingredients you probably already have sitting around in your kitchen, and it comes together in less than 10 minutes. Frangipane (almond cream) combined with apricots is just … wonderful. The filling can be made 1-2 days in advance.
• The shortcrust pastry is super buttery and crunchy. It’s a fool proof recipe, and you can definitely use it for other tarts, too. If you don’t have time, simply use an already baked store-bought pastry case.
• The tart is simply beautiful and very, very tasty. If you make it for afternoon tea and coffee, or as a dessert, this tart will be devoured. The shortcrust pastry is super crunchy and buttery, the almond frangipane is very creamy and nutty, and the apricots round off the flavour explosion with their sweet-sour notes. You’ll love this Apricot Frangipane Tart, I promise.

How to make shortcrust pastry

When making the shortcrust pastry, it is best to keep your ingredients (and equipment) as cold as possible. Use cold butter straight from the fridge, and definitely use ice-cold water. If you’re making the shortcrust pastry on a hot summer’s day, I honestly would suggest adding ice cubes to your water – to make sure it’s as cold as possible.

Once I even weighed out my flour and sugar, put them in my glass mixing bowl, and placed the whole bowl in the fridge for an hour so I could have really cold ingredients … it takes a bit of experimenting to see what works for you.

1. Begin by getting all your ingredients ready and weighed out. If need be, put them back in the fridge to ensure they’re as cold as possible.
2. Combine the flour, salt and sugar in a big (cold) bowl.
3. Cut the butter into walnut-sized pieces and add about half. Use a food processor to pulse a few times until a few small pieces remain. Add the second half of the butter and pulse again. The dough should slowly come together now – but don’t over-pulse it, as big butter chunks make for a delicious, crunchy pastry case! (The recipe instructions are very detailed.)
4. Add 2 tablespoons of ice-cold water. If the dough doesn’t stick together yet, add another half a tablespoon, and knead the dough carefully. Do NOT add too much water, because the dough shouldn’t be too sticky.
5. Press the dough into a small disk, wrap it in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for 1-2 hours.
6. Take it out of the fridge and let it rest for 15-20 minutes before working further.
7. Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F) non-convection/non-fan assisted.
8. Lightly butter and flour a tart tin of about 24 cm diameter.
9. Roll out the dough until it is 3-4 mm thick, and carefully lift it into the tart pan. I roll it up on my rolling pin, and unroll it in the pan.
10. If you have any excess dough, cut it off with a knife or roll over the edges with your rolling pin.
11. Use a fork to prick holes into the base.
12. Scrunch up a sheet of baking paper and place it on top of the pricked pie dough. Pour pie-weights or rice, lentils, etc. onto the paper. This weighs the base down and helps that no air bubbles form.
13. Bake for 15 minutes with weights, then take out of oven, and remove the paper and weights. Paint on the egg wash and bake another 10-15 minutes until golden. Let cool.

How to make Frangipane

Making frangipane (a delicious almond cream) is very easy. It tastes heavenly – you might want to scale up the recipe 😉 It helps to use room temperature ingredients, such as room temperature butter and eggs.

1. Begin by creaming together the butter, sugar, vanilla extract and almond extract in a small bowl for about 3-5 minutes on low speed.
2. Add the eggs one by one. Don’t forget to scrape down the sides of the bowl after adding and stirring in each egg.
3. Gently add in the flour and ground almonds (almond meal). Stir on low speed until the frangipane is nice and creamy and tastes delicious.
4. If you’re making the frangipane in advance (up to two days), cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap and place in the fridge. Take out of fridge 2-3 hours before baking. If using immediately, set the bowl aside and begin assembling the tart.

How to assemble the Apricot Frangipane Tart

Assembling the tart is really simple. Making the Apricot Frangipane tart can be divided into three steps:

1. Preparing and baking the shortcrust pastry,
2. preparing the frangipane, assembling the tart and baking it,
3. and finally, decorating the baked tart.

Depending on if you’re making your own shortcrust pastry or using a pre-baked store-bought option, you are only two steps away from enjoying an indulgent treat.

Begin by spreading apricot jam onto your pastry case. If the jam is very thick, warm it in a pot for about 10 minutes.

Then, you lay sliced apricots on top. To finish, you spread on the almond frangipane. And that’s it! Then you bake the tart for 40-60 minutes until the filling is firm to the touch and golden-brown.

You definitely can use frozen apricots too (instead of fresh ones). Just note that the baking time will vary (50-60 minutes). Be sure to let the tart cool long enough before decorating.

I prefer a simple, elegant decoration for this kind of tart. I like to drizzle on a small amount of icing, and sprinkle on some toasted flaked almonds.

If you’re going for a classic Apricot Bakewell Tart, you’ll need a whole layer of icing – check the recipe notes for adjusting the ingredients.

Variations

• Use plums instead of apricots, and swap the apricot jam for raspberry or plum jam. Or just follow my Plum Hazelnut Frangipane Tart recipe – it’s super delicious, too!
• For an autumnal variation, try swapping the apricots for apples and/or nectarines. I love the apple-almond frangipane combo, but adding in ground hazelnuts instead of ground almonds is super tasty, too!
• If you still have cherries, try adding in cherries, or blackberries too – the combination of the sweet-sour flavour explosion is unreal!

Frequently asked questions and some last-minute tips

Can I use store-bought pastry?

Yes, go for it! Although, if I do say so myself, I still think home-made pastry tastes best 😉 You can buy store-bought pastry dough and bake it at home, or simply buy a pre-baked tart shell. Do what works best for you!

Must I use cold ingredients to make the shortcrust pastry?

Yes, yes, and yes. The warmer your ingredients are, the quicker the butter will soften/melt into your dough when you are kneading it, and you definitely don’t want that. If your dough still has big butter chunks in it when you are finished kneading it, that is absolutely fine! When you bake the shortcrust pastry, the water content in the butter chunks will evaporate, leaving small air pockets that will result in a crunchy pastry case.

Must I use room temperature ingredients for the almond frangipane?

Making the frangipane definitely is easiest when using room-temperature ingredients. I suggest leaving the butter and eggs out overnight and making the frangipane the next day.

What’s the difference between frangipane and marzipan?

Frangipane is an almond-butter-sugar cream, that is most often used in baking to fill pastries. Marzipan, on the other hand, is an almond-sugar-paste and is mostly used for decorations. They both taste delicious but can’t be swapped in this recipe. To note: there are some recipes out there that call for marzipan as a filling, too.

Can I use marzipan instead of frangipane?

For this Apricot Frangipane Tart, I don’t suggest swapping the frangipane for marzipan. The frangipane sets when baking, and encases the apricots. Marzipan is too firm to do that.

Can I use bleached ground almonds?

I went for unbleached ground almonds (the peel is left on the almonds when they are ground). I think the tart looks a little bit more rustic this way. If using bleached, the frangipane will also be a bit smoother.

Can I use almond flour instead of almond meal?

If you like, you can use almond flour instead. Almond flour is even finer than ground almonds/almond meal, so the frangipane will be very spreadable. You do you.

How do I store the Almond Frangipane Tart?

Normally, I leave the tart in the tart pan in the fridge and just cut a slice off whenever I feel like it 🙂 (this way the tart is devoured within a few days). Definitely cover it with plastic wrap, though. It should keep for up to 3 days – but I am sure it will be gone before that. You can easily bake it a day in advance.

If you like, you can freeze the baked tart for up to 2-3 months – make sure to wrap it in plastic wrap and aluminium foil.

I sure hope you’ll love this Apricot Frangipane Tart as much as I do. I just looove all the different layers!

You might also like

• My Chocolate Hazelnut Tart: I know it’s very decadent, but if you’re a tart and chocolate lover, this recipe is for you.
• If you’re still hanging onto summer, you’ll love these Easy Summer Appetizer ideas! Try grilling plums, apricots or nectarines instead of pineapple!

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