Last week a colleague at work casually asked if I was interested in baking anything with figs and generously offered to let me help myself to fruit from her fig tree (conveniently, she only lives three blocks away). I could hardly contain myself. Since last December -- when the L.A. Times opened up their recipe vault of the newspaper's best recipes from the last 25 years -- I have been waiting to get my hands on a good supply of figs. The instant I saw the photo of the beautiful fig tart accompanying the list of 2004 recipes, I put the tart on my mental to-bake list. So I jumped at this opportunity, and over the weekend, Tom and I had the pleasure of being able to pick fresh figs! (Thanks, Julie!)
Making the tart is laborious. You have to start the tart crust a day in advance, since the dough needs to be refrigerated overnight. You also need to invest in some blanched almond meal. Around these parts, blanched almond meal is so expensive that it makes me want to cry (around $11-$14 per pound depending on the store; Trader Joe's sells almond meal for considerably less, but it's made from almonds with the skins on, and the texture is not very fine).
Once your dough is chilled overnight, the work has just begun. You then have to do the following:
As for the flavor, this tart was delicious. The almond flavor in the crust and frangipane was a perfect compliment to the fig flavor, and the crust in particular was wonderful, with a crisp cookie-like texture. The fig flavor was not dominant, but the gentle sweetness of the fruit and apricot preserves was lovely. While I'm sure that this tart would work well topped with other fruits, I also think there is something very special about the fig-almond combination.
A few baking notes: if you try this recipe, it produces a lot of dough... way more than you would need for a single 12-inch crust. I intended to make two tarts, and so I made a double batch of the sugar dough. I made three 10-inch tarts, a 6-inch tart, and I had plenty of dough left to spare. Also, with all of the time the tarts spend in the oven, the edges of the crust are prone to burning; I used some aluminum foil to shield the edges from the time I removed the pie weights and found that this solved the problem.
Recipe: "Fig and Almond Tart," from the Los Angeles Times Best of 2004.
Previous Post: "A Bit of Sunshine from the Los Angeles Times Vault: Double-Lemon Cake," January 13, 2010.
Making the tart is laborious. You have to start the tart crust a day in advance, since the dough needs to be refrigerated overnight. You also need to invest in some blanched almond meal. Around these parts, blanched almond meal is so expensive that it makes me want to cry (around $11-$14 per pound depending on the store; Trader Joe's sells almond meal for considerably less, but it's made from almonds with the skins on, and the texture is not very fine).
Once your dough is chilled overnight, the work has just begun. You then have to do the following:
- Roll out the dough (5 minutes)
- Chill the rolled dough (15 minutes)
- Line the tart pan with the dough, prick the crust, weigh it down with pie weights (5 minutes)
- Bake the crust (15 minutes)
- Remove the pie weights and bake the crust until golden (20 minutes)
- Cool the crust (10 minutes)
- Spread on the frangipane (5 minutes)
- Bake the frangipane-filled crust (15 minutes)
- Cool the crust (10 minutes)
- Arrange quartered figs in concentric circles (10 minutes)
- Bake the filled tart (15 minutes)
- Cool the tart (15 minutes)
- Brush the figs with heated apricot jam (5 minutes)
As for the flavor, this tart was delicious. The almond flavor in the crust and frangipane was a perfect compliment to the fig flavor, and the crust in particular was wonderful, with a crisp cookie-like texture. The fig flavor was not dominant, but the gentle sweetness of the fruit and apricot preserves was lovely. While I'm sure that this tart would work well topped with other fruits, I also think there is something very special about the fig-almond combination.
A few baking notes: if you try this recipe, it produces a lot of dough... way more than you would need for a single 12-inch crust. I intended to make two tarts, and so I made a double batch of the sugar dough. I made three 10-inch tarts, a 6-inch tart, and I had plenty of dough left to spare. Also, with all of the time the tarts spend in the oven, the edges of the crust are prone to burning; I used some aluminum foil to shield the edges from the time I removed the pie weights and found that this solved the problem.Recipe: "Fig and Almond Tart," from the Los Angeles Times Best of 2004.
Previous Post: "A Bit of Sunshine from the Los Angeles Times Vault: Double-Lemon Cake," January 13, 2010.
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