Fresh Fig and Frangipane Rustic Tart

About a week ago, I tasted my first fresh fig. It’s a bit silly, but I felt like I was doing something mysterious and biblical. After all, the fig tree is an iconic symbol in the Bible (see chapter 21 of the book of Matthew), and Jesus seems to have eaten a lot of them. I’ve eaten plenty of dried figs in my life (most of them in Fig Newtons when I was a kiddo), but a fresh one was a new and altogether different experience.

I’ve wanted to try cooking with fresh figs for a while, but since they’re not native to the Midwest, happening upon them in a regular grocery store there was unlikely. Admittedly, I never went on any kind of focused search, and they were probably there at Whole Foods all along. When I found some green figs at Trader Joe’s and brought them home, I was just a little put off at first. I mean, let’s be honest – they’re ugly little things, and it seems incomprehensible at first that you’re not going to remove their skins. I opened the box they came in, picked one up, and was a tad repulsed by how soft it was – almost squishy.

I washed the fig gently under cool water, shook off the excess water, and took a bite. Honey-like sweetness burst on my tongue. The inner flesh was tender and moist, almost spreadable.

Sold.

I had a whole pound of figs to use, so I decided on a free-form tart with a layer of frangipane (almond cream, pronounced fran-jhuh-pahn) for the figs to rest in. It was incredibly easy. I love free-form tarts (also called galettes) because of their sheer simplicity and rustic look.

To make the tart, you’ll need a half batch of this pastry dough. You can make a whole batch and freeze half of it, wrapped well in plastic wrap, or simply cut the recipe in half.

Frangipane is also very basic, and is traditionally used in fruit tarts like this one, as well as in cakes and tortes. The technique is very basic: whip together some butter and sugar, beat in an egg or two, maybe a little vanilla, and fold in some ground almonds. That’s it.

To go with it, I made a batch of browned butter ice cream (see yesterday’s post). The browned butter ice cream isn’t completely necessary, but if you don’t have an ice cream maker and are therefore going to head to the store for something to accompany your tart, I suggest you substitute with a salty caramel or something like that. The magic of this dessert (and it really is magical the way the flavors and textures complement each other) is the juxtaposition of the salty ice cream, the flaky crust, and the softly sweet tart filling.

If I had to come up with one word for this dessert, it would be elegant. And although in reality I curled on the couch in my jammies after my toddler was in bed for the night to eat it, in my mind I was conjuring up visions of black dresses and high heels and a dimly lit bistro in Paris. For real. Laugh if you must – just go make the tart. And don’t forget some salty ice cream.

Fresh Fig and Frangipane Tart

Pastry for a single 9-inch crust

1 pound ripe figs, green or black

5 tablespoons unsalted sweet cream butter, at room temperature

1/4 cup evaporated cane juice or sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup almond flour/meal, plus a little extra as needed

First, prepare your pie crust dough, and place it in the refrigerator to chill.

Preheat the oven to 400°.

Then, make the frangipane:

In the bowl of a mixer, beat the butter and sugar together at medium speed until fluffy. Beat in one egg until the mixture is smooth and creamy, then the vanilla.

With the mixer on low, beat in the almond flour until fully incorporated. The mixture should be thick and creamy, but easily spreadable. If it seems a little thin, add more almond flour, a tablespoonful at a time, until you have the right consistency.

Next, prepare the figs by washing and quartering them, trimming off the very tops if they seem too stem-like.

Take the pastry dough from the refrigerator and unwrap it. On a flat surface lightly dusted with flour, roll the dough out into a large circle, about 1/16 of an inch thick. It should be roughly the size of a small pizza. Place on a pizza pan or large baking sheet.