Why it’s so good!
This raspberry frangipane tart is the perfect dessert for so many occasions! Impressive enough to serve to guests, yet simple enough to make for yourself, it’s full of yummy flavours and textures. The frangipane filling (made with ground almonds) is soft, moist, and so delish. The raspberries add a touch of sweet, tart flavour to the whole thing!
I love creating desserts and French desserts are some of my favourites being delicate and flavourful without being overly sugary. That’s why I make frangipane tarts with fruit so often. The almond filling, nutty and rich, is the ultimate complement to fresh fruit.
This raspberry frangipane tart recipe is lovely served with a dollop of yogurt, but you can make it even more indulgently dessert-worthy by adding a scoop of vanilla ice cream and serving it slightly warmed. Yum!
Table of contents
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What is frangipane?
Crème frangipane, or, almond cream in French, is a rich and creamy almond-based filling that’s used in pastries and other desserts. If you’ve been following along for a while, you know how much I love it. Made from almond meal, sugar, butter, and eggs, it’s an easy way to add a moist and nutty texture to a variety of sweet treats.
I use it in this raspberry almond frangipane tart, my honey baklava tart, easy bakewell tart, and of course, my apple frangipane tart. As you can see, I almost always pair it with fresh fruit. So delicious!
Ingredients
Jump to the recipe for full ingredients and instructions.
- Plain flour: Also called all-purpose flour, you’ll need it to make the shortcrust pastry and the frangipane filling. If you’re gluten-free, you can use your favourite 1:1 ratio GF flour.
- Caster sugar: Also needed for the pastry and filling. Caster sugar is sometimes called superfine sugar. I like it in my raspberry frangipane tart recipe as it has a finer grain than granulated sugar and gives the tart a smoother texture. White granulated sugar will work but you can actually make caster sugar by blitzing granulated sugar in your food processor to a finer grain.
- Unsalted butter: Again, also for the pastry and raspberry almond filling! I’m using unsalted butter here as it works best with the other ingredients.
- Eggs: You’ll need 3 large eggs in total for the pastry and the frangipane tart recipe filling.
- Almond meal: Here is where the almond flavour in the frangipane filling comes from. You should be able to easily find it at the grocery store — it’s sometimes called ground almonds or almond flour too but what you want is just finely ground almonds.
- Vanilla extract: For a touch of warm flavour.
- Lemon: All you need is the lemon zest. I like the subtle combination of citrus and raspberries. Freeze the lemon juice in ice cube trays for adding flavour to recipes or just your water, another time.
- Raspberry jam: Raspberry preserves, fruit spread or jam intensify the raspberry flavour and add a little sweetness. Use your favourite brand or make it yourself if you’re feeling ambitious – you could use this raspberry compote recipe making sure to reduce it right down until jammy.
- Fresh raspberries: You’ll pop these on top of the raspberry frangipane tart filling before baking. Not only do they provide flavour and texture, but they also add to the final look of the baked raspberry almond tart. As a note, fresh raspberries are best. If you want to use frozen, leave them in the freezer right up until the moment you add them to the tart but they do tend to collapse a bit and don’t look as pretty.
How to make frangipane tart
To make my raspberry frangipane tart, you’ll start by creating the pastry. It’s buttery, crisp, lightly sweetened, and a little flaky too. While I love my classic French shortcrust recipe, pâte sucrée, this version is quicker (ready in 10 minutes!), easier, and dare I say a better texture.
This frangipane tart recipe does require a bit of forethought as the crust itself needs to chill for 2 hours before baking but it’s so incredibly worth it, I promise. And this does mean you can make it ahead up to 3 days too.
Additionally, the pastry ingredients — egg, butter, and water — must be cold. Otherwise, this is just so easy to make!
Jump to the recipe for full ingredients and instructions.
1. Make the pastry
Add the flour, sugar, and cold butter to the bowl of your food processor and blend until the pieces of butter are about lentil-sized.
Add the egg and blend on low until it resembles breadcrumbs (like below) — be careful not to over-process.
Finally, with the processor still on low, dribble in the cold water and continue to blend until clumps start to form.
If you don’t have a food processor, you can use the “cutting-in method.” Add the flour and sugar to a bowl and grate the butter to help you blend it in more quickly. It can be helpful to freeze the grated butter for 10 minutes first, especially if it’s very warm in your home. Then use a knife or pastry blender to “cut” the butter into the flour.
2. Shape and roll the dough
Remove the dough from the processor and place it on a clean work surface. Pull it together with your hands and knead just enough to make it mostly smooth.
Dust your work surface with flour, place the dough on top, and add a bit more flour on top of the dough. Roll it out to about 4mm (⅙ inch) thick and about 11 inches round. Be careful not to add too much flour.
3. Add to the tart pan
Working carefully, place your rolling pin in the middle of the dough and fold one side of the pastry on top of it. Lift and gently brush away any excess flour. Lay it into your 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removeable bottom. Press the dough into the corners, then the scalloped sides. Place the tart crust in the fridge to chill for at least 2 hours, or up to 3 days. You can also freeze it.
4. Blind bake the tart shell
Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F and trim off any excess pastry. Use a fork to prick small holes into the pastry base.
Line the tart shell with a sheet of baking paper and fill with pie weights or rice (I’ve been using the same batch of rice for years for this). Par bake for 15 minutes, remove the paper and weights, and bake for 5 more minutes.
5. Make the raspberry frangipane tart filling
Add the sugar and butter to a medium bowl and beat with an electric hand mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat to combine.
Beat in the flour and almond, then stir in the lemon zest with a spatula.
6. Assemble the tart and bake
Spread the raspberry jam over the base of the tart shell, then add the frangipane filling on top. Use a spatula to spread it out evenly, then drop the raspberries randomly over the top.
Bake your raspberry frangipane tart for 40-45 minutes, turning halfway through. Remove from the oven when it’s golden brown and springy on top. Serve warm or at room temp with a bit of icing sugar on top. Enjoy!
Tips and tricks
- Weigh the ingredients. It’s important to weigh your ingredients for delicate desserts like this raspberry frangipane tart recipe, rather than using measuring cups and spoons. The measurements are so much more accurate and will ultimately give you the best balance of flavours and textures. Invest in a kitchen scale if you haven’t already.
- Keep the wet crust ingredients cold. Remember to keep the egg, butter, and water for the pastry crust as cold as you can. It’s best to leave them in the fridge just until you’re ready to use them. This is key to getting a flaky and tender texture. If it’s hot in your home (as it is here in the middle of summer and prime raspberry season) you can even put the flour in the fridge or freezer to chill before hand.
- You can make this frangipane tart recipe with any kind of berry. Strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries would all work. Simply replace the raspberry jam and fresh berries with your berry of choice. It’s also lovely with stone fruit like plums or apricots.
- Easily turn this raspberry almond tart into raspberry frangipane tartlets using the method in my tartlet shells recipe.
Storing
To store leftover raspberry almond frangipane tart, allow it to cool completely before placing in an airtight container in the refrigerator. When stored properly, it will keep for 3-5 days.
You can also freeze this frangipane tart recipe to extend its shelf life. Wrap the tart tightly in several layers of plastic wrap and foil and freeze for up to 2-3 months. Allow it to thaw in the fridge overnight before serving. Just note, the raspberries will release moisture as it thaws, since freezing fruit can affect the integrity of the cell walls, so the frangipane around the berries may be a tiny bit soggy in a frozen and thawed tart.
FAQs
Frangipane filling is made with a mixture of ground almonds, sugar, butter, and eggs. As mentioned, it’s a classic French almond filling that’s called crème frangipane. It’s soft, moist, buttery, nutty and pairs wonderfully with fresh fruit.
While the names may sound similar, marzipan and frangipane are quite different. You’ll remember that frangipane is a filling made of ground almonds, butter, sugar, and eggs. Marzipan is a thick almond-based paste that’s used for decorating desserts.
No, frangipane is not the same as a bakewell tart. It’s a main ingredient in a bakewell tart — in fact it can’t be made without frangipane — and is used to make the filling, just like in this raspberry frangipane tart.
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Ingredients
FOR THE SHORTCRUST PASTRY
- 225 g plain flour (all purpose flour) (1 ¾ cups / 8oz)
- 50 g caster sugar (superfine sugar) (¼ cup / 1.8oz), notes
- 100 g unsalted butter, cold and cubed (7 tablespoons / 3 ½oz)
- 1 large egg, cold
- 1 ½ tablespoons cold water
FOR THE FRANGIPANE FILLING
- ½ cup caster sugar or white granulated sugar (100g / 3 ½oz)
- 113 g unsalted butter, softened (½ cup / 1 stick)
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons plain flour (all-purp flour) (notes 1)
- 1 cup almond meal (ground almonds) (100g / 3 ½oz)
- 1 medium lemon, zest only
- ¼ cup raspberry jam (60ml)
- 1 ½ cups fresh raspberries (200g/7oz)
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
- 9 inch tart pan with removable base
- Food processor (optional but helpful)
- Handheld beater (optional but helpful)
Instructions
- FOR THE PASTRY:In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour, sugar and cold butter. Process until the pieces of butter are about lentil sized. Add the egg and process on low until it resembles bread crumbs. Be careful not to overprocess. Finally, with the processor on low, dribble in the cold water and let it continue blending until it start to form clumps.
- Turn the pastry dough out onto a clean surface and pull it together with your hands, kneading it just enough to make it mostly smooth.
- Dust the surface with flour, place the dough on top and dust a little flour over the top of the dough. Roll it out to about 4mm (1/6 inch) thick and about 11 inch round, moving it regularly and adding a little flour as necessary – try not to add too much though.
- Place the rolling pin in the middle of the dough and fold one side of the pastry over the top. Lift the rolling pin so the pastry is hanging over it, and lightly dust off any excess flour from underneath. Carefully lay it into a 9 inch round tart pan with removeable base.
- Press the dough down in to the corners all the way round, then press it into the scalloped sides. Leave the overhang standing upright and place the tart pan into the fridge to chill for a minimum of 2 hours or overnight. If your freezer has space you can place it in there.
- PAR BAKE THE TART SHELL:Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan) / 350F.
- Use a fork to prick the pastry base all over. Use a small sharp knife to trim off the excess pastry.
- Line the tart shell with a sheet of baking paper and fill with pie weights or rice. Fill it quite full and making sure it’s pressed up tight against the edges.
- Bake for 15 minutes then carefully remove the paper and pie weights and bake a further 5 minutes.You can proceed with making the filling while it bakes however let the tart shell cool for 15 minutes before filling or you risk the butter in the filling melting.
- FOR THE FRANGIPANE FILLING:In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat well. Beat in the flour and almond meal then stir in the lemon zest with a spatula.
- Spread the jam over the base of the tart shell, then dollop the frangipane filling mixture over the top. Spread it out evenly.
- Drop the raspberries randomly over the top.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes, turning the tray half way through, until golden brown and springy on top.
- Serve warm or at room temperature with a little icing sugar dusted over the top. It’s great with a dollop of yogurt or whipped cream or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream as an indulgent dessert.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- Tablespoons: I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (equal to 4 teaspoons). Check yours before measuring.
- Almond meal: You may know almond meal as almond flour. It’s just finely ground almonds, nothing else.
- Caster sugar: I much prefer caster sugar for the crust here but you can use white granulated if it’s all you have on hand.
- Nutrition details are approximate only – scroll below the recipe to find the full nutritional information.
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