There is something quietly spectacular about a plum tart pulled fresh from the oven, its fruit glistening garnet and deep violet, sunken just slightly into a golden, puffed almond filling. The smell alone, warm marzipan and caramelized fruit and toasty pastry, will have everyone finding an excuse to linger in the kitchen. This tart sits at the intersection of rustic and refined: imperfect plum slices fanned across the top, a filling that is custardy and rich, and a crisp, buttery shell that shatters at the fork.
What makes this version stand apart is the addition of real marzipan worked directly into the frangipane batter, alongside brown butter. Most frangipane recipes use ground almonds and plain softened butter, which is perfectly lovely, but blending in a portion of marzipan brings an extra depth of almond flavor and a subtle sweetness that ground almonds alone cannot replicate. Browning the butter first adds a nutty, toffee-like complexity, tying the filling and fruit together in a way that tastes far more intentional than the effort involved. The shortcrust is made with egg yolk and a splash of ice water for tenderness, and it is blind-baked until genuinely golden so it stays crisp under the filling.
This tart lands comfortably in the medium-difficulty range. If you have made a pastry crust before, you will feel right at home. If this is your first time blind-baking a tart shell, the step-by-step instructions here will walk you through every moment. It is an ideal weekend bake, beautiful enough for guests but relaxed enough that you will want to make it just for yourself on a rainy Saturday. Stone fruit season runs late summer into early autumn, which is exactly the right time to make this your go-to.
8
servings
Ingredients
- Frangipane
- 200 gall-purpose flour (about 1 cup + 5 tsp, spooned and leveled), plus extra for dusting
- 30 gpowdered sugar (about 3 tbsp), sifted
- 0.25 tspfine sea salt
- 115 gunsalted butter, very cold, cut into 1cm cubes (about 1/2 cup)
- 1 largeegg yolk
- 2 tbspice water, plus more as needed
- 115 gunsalted butter (about 1/2 cup)
- 100 ggood-quality marzipan (about 3.5 oz), roughly chopped
- 80 ggranulated sugar (about 6 tbsp)
- 2 largeeggs, at room temperature
- 100 galmond flour, finely ground (about 1 cup)
- 20 gall-purpose flour (about 2.5 tbsp)
- 0.5 tsppure almond extract
- 0.5 tsppure vanilla extract
- 500 gripe but firm plums (about 5 to 6 medium), halved, pitted, and sliced into 1cm wedges
- Sprinkling
- 1 tbspdemerara or raw cane sugar
- Glazing (optional But Recommended)
- 2 tbspapricot jam
- Thinning The Glaze
- 1 tspwater
- —Flaked almonds for scattering over the top (optional)
Ingredient Substitutions
Instructions
🔧 Equipment
- Make the shortcrust pastry. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, powdered sugar, and salt. Add the cold butter cubes and use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs with a few pea-sized pieces of butter still visible. Those small pieces are what create a flaky, tender crust, so do not overwork it. Alternatively, pulse in a food processor 8 to 10 times until the same texture is reached.
- Add the egg yolk and ice water. Mix with a fork or pulse just until the dough begins to clump together. Squeeze a small piece between your fingers, if it holds together, it is ready. If it is still crumbly, add ice water one teaspoon at a time. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and press it gently into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 2 days.
- Blind-bake the shell. Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). On a lightly floured surface, roll the chilled dough into a circle about 28cm (11 inches) in diameter and 3mm thick. Transfer to a 9-inch (23cm) fluted tart pan with a removable base. Press gently into the flutes, trim any overhang flush with a sharp knife or rolling pin, and prick the base all over with a fork. Freeze the lined pan for 15 minutes. Line with parchment paper, fill with pie weights or dried beans, and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the weights and parchment, reduce the oven to 350°F (175°C), and bake for a further 8 minutes until the base is pale gold and feels dry to the touch. Set aside to cool slightly.
- Brown the butter for the frangipane. Melt the 115g of butter for the filling in a light-colored saucepan over medium heat, swirling occasionally. Once it foams and subsides, watch closely. When the milk solids turn a deep golden-brown and it smells nutty and toasty, about 4 to 6 minutes, pour immediately into a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer and let cool for 10 minutes. You want it warm but not hot.
- Make the marzipan frangipane. Add the chopped marzipan to the brown butter and beat with a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed until the marzipan is mostly broken down and incorporated, about 2 minutes. Add the granulated sugar and beat for another minute. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the bowl. Add the almond flour, the 20g of flour, almond extract, and vanilla extract, and mix on low just until combined. The filling should be thick and smooth.
- Assemble and bake. Spread the frangipane evenly into the cooled tart shell using an offset spatula. Arrange the plum slices over the top in concentric circles or an overlapping fan pattern, pressing them very gently into the filling, the filling will puff around them as it bakes. Scatter over the flaked almonds if using, then sprinkle the demerara sugar evenly over the fruit. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 45 to 50 minutes, until the frangipane is set and deeply golden and a skewer inserted into the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs. A gentle jiggle should show no significant wobble.
- Glaze and cool. If using the glaze, warm the apricot jam with 1 teaspoon of water in a small saucepan or microwave until fluid. Strain through a small sieve to remove any chunks, then brush generously over the warm fruit. Allow the tart to cool in the pan on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes before removing the base and slicing. The filling firms up significantly as it cools and is best served warm or at room temperature.
- Prepare the pastry and filling following the same steps as the oven method, through making the frangipane. The only change in the pastry is to roll it slightly thinner, about 2.5mm, and to cut it into rounds large enough to line your individual tart pans. Use a round cutter or a small plate as a guide.
- Line eight 4-inch (10cm) fluted tartlet pans with removable bases with the pastry, pressing into the flutes and trimming the edges. Prick the bases with a fork and freeze for 15 minutes. Line with small squares of parchment and fill with dried beans or rice. Blind-bake at 375°F (190°C) for 10 minutes, then remove weights and bake for a further 5 minutes until pale gold. Cool slightly.
- Divide the frangipane evenly among the 8 cooled tartlet shells, spreading it about two-thirds of the way to the rim. The filling puffs during baking, so leave headroom. Top each with 3 to 4 overlapping plum slices, a pinch of demerara sugar, and a few flaked almonds if desired.
- Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 22 to 26 minutes, until the frangipane is golden, puffed, and set. A toothpick inserted into the filling should come out clean. Mini tartlets bake faster than a full tart, start checking at 20 minutes.
- Glaze with warm strained apricot jam if desired, and cool for 10 minutes before unmolding. Serve on a board or individual plates with a small spoonful of creme fraiche or softly whipped cream alongside.
- Make the pastry and frangipane exactly as described in the oven method. Scale the ingredient amounts down by about 30 percent if using a 7-inch pan, or make the full recipe and refrigerate leftover filling for up to 4 days for another use.
- Line a 7-inch (18cm) tart pan with removable base with the pastry. Prick the base, freeze for 15 minutes, then line with parchment and fill with dried beans. Air fry at 375°F (190°C) for 10 minutes. Remove weights and parchment, then air fry for another 4 to 5 minutes until the base is pale golden and dry. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes.
- Reduce the air fryer temperature to 320°F (160°C). Spread the frangipane into the cooled shell and arrange the plum slices over the top. Sprinkle with demerara sugar.
- Air fry at 320°F (160°C) for 25 to 30 minutes. Check at the 20-minute mark. If the top is browning too quickly while the center still looks wet, lay a small piece of foil loosely over the top, being careful not to block airflow around the sides. The tart is done when the frangipane is golden and set with no wobble in the center.
- Glaze, cool, and unmold as described in the main method. Because air fryer tarts can have a slightly crisper base than oven-baked ones, this method is especially good if you like a very short, well-crisped pastry shell.
Nutrition Per Serving
Per 1 serving (makes one 9-inch (23cm) round tart)
Why This Recipe Works
Frangipane is a forgiving filling precisely because of its fat and nut content. The high proportion of almond flour keeps the crumb moist and dense rather than bready, while the eggs provide structure through protein coagulation during baking. By blending marzipan into the butter base, you are distributing tiny particles of sugar-coated almond paste throughout the filling, which melt into pockets of extra richness and boost that unmistakable almond flavor beyond what ground almonds alone can achieve. The two extracts, almond and vanilla, serve complementary roles: almond extract amplifies the roasted-nut character while vanilla rounds and softens it, preventing the filling from tasting one-note.
Browning the butter before mixing the filling is not just a flavor step, it is structural. The Maillard reaction that turns butter nutty and golden also drives off water. Less water in the fat means less steam in the filling during baking, which results in a denser, more cohesive crumb rather than a puffed, eggy one. It also means the frangipane is less likely to split or weep under the moist plums. Speaking of which: the plums are placed raw onto the filling deliberately. As they bake, they release their juice slowly into the frangipane surface, creating those beautiful caramelized, jammy edges without flooding the tart. Very juicy fruit should be salted lightly and patted dry for 15 minutes first to reduce the moisture load.
Blind-baking the shell until genuinely golden (not just set) is the single most important step for avoiding a soggy bottom. The pastry needs to form a moisture barrier before the wet frangipane is added, and that only happens once the starch has fully gelatinized and the base has started to brown. If your shell looks pale or doughy when you remove the weights, give it another 3 to 4 minutes uncovered before adding the filling. A pale shell will steam under the filling and turn soft. A golden shell stays crisp all the way through. If your edges start to brown too quickly during the filled bake, cover them with strips of foil or a pie crust shield.
Baker’s Tips
- Keep the pastry butter genuinely cold. Cold fat creates steam pockets during baking that lift and separate the dough layers into a flaky, crisp crust. If the butter warms up while you are working, pop the whole bowl in the freezer for 10 minutes before continuing.
- Do not skip the freeze before blind-baking. Chilling the lined, raw tart shell for 15 minutes in the freezer sets the gluten and helps the pastry hold its shape against the flutes without shrinking down.
- Let the brown butter cool to warm before adding the marzipan. If it is too hot, it will melt the marzipan unevenly and can partially cook the eggs when you add them.
- Choose plums that are ripe but still hold their shape. Overly soft, jammy plums will collapse into the frangipane and make the surface wet and sunken. The fruit should yield slightly to pressure but not feel mushy.
- Taste your marzipan before adding it. Marzipan quality varies enormously by brand. If yours tastes very sweet, reduce the granulated sugar in the frangipane by 10g. If it tastes faintly bitter or strongly of almond essence (cheap marzipan often does), reduce or omit the almond extract.
- For clean slices, cool the tart completely before cutting. The frangipane needs time to set firm once out of the oven. If you cut it while it is very warm, the filling will be custardy and the slices will fall apart.
Variations
- Peach and lavender: Swap plums for ripe peaches and add 1 teaspoon of culinary lavender buds to the frangipane with the almond flour. The floral note pairs wonderfully with stone fruit.
- Pear and dark chocolate: Replace plums with thinly sliced ripe pears and fold 50g of finely chopped dark chocolate (70%) into the frangipane at the end. Dust with cocoa powder to finish instead of glazing.
- Raspberry ripple: Omit the plums and dollop 3 tablespoons of raspberry jam over the frangipane before baking, swirling gently with a skewer. Press fresh raspberries into the surface. No glaze needed.
- Gluten-free version: Substitute the all-purpose flour in the pastry with a 1:1 gluten-free baking flour blend and add a pinch of xanthan gum if not already included. Replace the 20g flour in the frangipane with additional almond flour.
Troubleshooting & FAQ
My pastry shrank away from the sides of the pan during blind-baking. What went wrong?
The frangipane is still wobbly and underbaked in the center but the top is already very brown. What should I do?
The bottom of my tart shell is soggy even though I blind-baked it. How do I fix this?
My frangipane has a curdled, lumpy texture. Did I ruin it?
Can I use frozen plums, and will they work the same way?
Storage & Make-Ahead
- Storage: Store the tart loosely covered at room temperature for up to 2 days, or refrigerate for up to 4 days. The pastry softens slightly in the fridge, so bring to room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes before serving, or warm individual slices in a 300°F (150°C) oven for 8 minutes. The baked tart freezes well for up to 2 months, wrapped tightly. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
- Make-Ahead: The pastry dough can be made up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated, or frozen for up to 1 month. The blind-baked shell can be prepared 1 day ahead and stored uncovered at room temperature. The frangipane filling can be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated in an airtight container. Bring it back to room temperature and stir well before spreading. The fully assembled and baked tart is also excellent made a day ahead, as the filling settles into a beautifully dense, sliceable texture overnight.
