Cherry Frangipane Tart

Pâte sablée is a classic French shortcrust pastry dough that once baked, becomes the base for pretty much any tart you can imagine. The name literally means “sandy,” although it’s anything but. 

Unlike a flaky pie crust, pâte sablée is crisp and more cookie-like. The types of tarts that use this tender, buttery crust are typically filled with pastry cream and topped with fresh fruit.

It can also be used as the base for lemon tarts, chocolate tarts, and tarts made with almond frangipane. Fully bake the tart crust, and you can fill it with whatever you’re craving!

Tips

1. The most important tip for this recipe: work with cold dough! This will make rolling, cutting, shaping, and transporting the dough SO MUCH EASIER

2. It is much easier to roll dough in between two pieces of parchment paper because it doesn't stick to the surface.

3. The secret to preventing the tart shells from getting soggy after filling them: spread a thin layer of cocoa butter or melted chocolate.

Sable pastry is the base of today’s dessert, a Cherry Frangipane tart, served with fresh vanilla cream and sour cherries!

Sable pastry Recipe
(1x25cm square base)

Ingredients:
150g Cold butter 
250g flour
50g egg yolk
100g icing sugar
1g Salt
1g lemon zest

1. Sift the flour into a large bowl, add the butter, rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

2. Add the icing sugar and the egg yolk, salt and lemon zest. Mix until the dough has a uniform consistency.

3. Press flat, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hour, ideally overnight.

Frangipane Recipe
(1x25cm square base)

Ingredients:
100g Butter (room temperature)
100g Sugar
100g Almond Flour
2 Eggs
30g Flour

100g Sour Cherry Jam
20g Flaked almond 

1. Pre-heat the oven to 170 C°. Butter a square tart tin 25cm in diameter.

2. Roll out the dough to 5 mm thick. Line the tart tin with the sable pastry.

3. To make the frangipane, cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy; this takes about 5 minutes in a kitchen mixer fitted with a paddle, or a little longer with a hand mixer.

4. Add the eggs one at time then fold in the remaining ingredients and place the mixture in a piping bag.

5. Spread the cherry jam on the base of the sable tart.

6. Pipe the frangipane mixture evenly into the pastry case over the jam layer. Smooth out gently using a palette knife or spatula.

7. Top the tart with some flaked almond, place the tart tin on a baking sheet and bake for 25–30 minutes until the filling is golden. Test with a skewer inserted into the centre: it should come out clean and the frangipane should be firm to the touch.

Please if you try the recipe tag me on @ila_riapastry on instagram!