Cape Gooseberry Frangipane Tart Recipe

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Following from the article on how to grow Cape Gooseberry from seed, here’s my recipe for a rich and decadent Cape Gooseberry Frangipane Tart.

Frangipane (or frangipani) is an almond-flavoured sweet pastry cream used in desserts. The key ingredient is ground almonds and it’s made with milk, sugar, flour, eggs and butter.

The history of frangipane / frangipani is attributed to Marquis Muzio Frangipani, a 16th-century Italian nobleman who popularised almond perfume-scented gloves. Pastry chefs were inspired by the trend and started using it in desserts.

There are two steps to making the Cape Gooseberry Frangipane Tart. First, the tart base is prepared and baked blind. This is followed by preparing the frangipane mix then adding it with whole cape gooseberries to the tart before baking in an oven.

The result is a sweet and decadent tart that is rich yet moreish.

The tart is fairly sweet as it is but you could dust with icing sugar if you wish.

Cape Gooseberry Frangipane Tart Recipe

For the tart base: 20 cm pan

• 1 cup flour
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon cold water
• 2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
• 100g butter
• vanilla essence

For the frangipane:

• 1 cup almond meal
• 1 tablespoon flour
• ½ cup granulated white sugar
• 100g butter, room temperature
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1.5 cups of Cape Gooseberry berries

For the pastry:

1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and kneed into a dough.
2. Cover with cling film and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
3. After half an hour, roll out the pastry between two sheets of greaseproof paper then lay the dough carefully over a non-stick 20cm flan pan.
4. Using a fork, prick the pastry and bake blind for approximately 20 minutes.

For the frangipane:

1. Add all ingredients in a bowl and using a rotary beater, combine until creamy.

For the tart:

1. Once the tart base has finished baking blind, add a layer of cape gooseberries then top with the frangipane mix.
2. Using a spatula, smooth the top.
3. Bake in a 160^oC oven for 40 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean.

Next… DIY Cape Gooseberry Liqueur