This easier-than-it-looks apricot tart is made with fresh apricots, fragrant almond frangipane and a nutty, malty rye crust.
Though my obsession with stone fruit on this blog is fairly obvious with various recipes like cherry slab pies, peach and prosecco cobblers, and plum crisps, somehow apricots always feel overlooked. But apricots have their own homey appeal, and I always grab some when they show up at the store to make my apricot yeast bread, the apricot blueberry coffee cake or my apricot and berry cobbler. So, when I ran into some perfectly ripe apricots in the store, I knew I had to make something new with them. The result is this beautiful, sophisticated apricot tart with frangipane filling and rye crust.
How do you make this tart?
This easy-to-make tart doesn’t require you to roll out a dough. Instead, the crust is made almost like a shortbread, pressed into the tart pan, eliminating the need to roll out the dough. Start by combining rye flour, powdered sugar, salt and butter into the bowl of a stand mixer. Then mix until the butter is broken down and the mixture looks like sandy pebbles. Mix an egg with some water and drizzle it in, until a dough forms.
Press the dough into the tart pan, then freeze the dough for 20 minutes while you preheat the oven. Bake the crust and let it cool.
While the dough is cooling, make the frangipane filling by combining almond flour, sugar, salt, butter, vanilla, almond extract, an egg, and some rye whisky in the same bowl you used to make the tart dough. There’s no need to clean it! Spread the filling over the cooled tart crust, then cut the apricots in half and slice them. Place them on the filling. Bake and let cool before serving.
What is frangipane?
Frangipane is a sweet almond custard filling. I love it as a base in tarts and galettes like my plum galette with frangipane filling and my mead poached pear galette with frangipane filling. You can make it with different nuts, like walnuts, pistachios or pecans, though the traditional nut used is almonds. You can make it by grinding whole almonds in a food processor, but I find it much easier to use almond meal or almond flour instead. Feel free to use either flour or meal, though the meal has the almond skins on it and result in a slightly more bitter filling which adds an interest dimension to the filling.
If you want to experiment, or don’t have almond flour or meal, try grinding 1 1/2 cups of almonds, or other nuts, in a food processor until they are powder, and use that in place of the almond flour or meal.
Can I use a different flour than rye?
This tart uses rye flour which is a dark flour that is often associated with pumpernickel and heavy rye bread. Often rye bread is flavored with caraway seeds. But rye flour by itself tends to be nutty, and almost malty flavored, with touches of caramel and butterscotch. It has an earthy soft depth to it that tastes nothing like caraway seeds.
I use rye flour in my homemade soft rye pretzels, my rye brownies with caramel and my salted double rye chocolate cookies. And the rye flour in this tart crust adds a great dimension and flavor to the dessert. But if you don’t have rye flour, or don’t feel like buying it, you can easily swap out the same amount of all-purpose flour or whole wheat flour in its place and still have a delightful dessert.
Can I use a different pan for this tart?
I made this tart in a rectangular tart pan that is 8 by 12 inches. It is slightly smaller than a quarter sheet pan. I don’t recommend using a quarter sheet pan, as the crust dough just barely fits the 8 x 12 pan. The dough for the recipe might not be enough to fill the bottom and sides of a slightly larger quarter sheet pan.
However, if you don’t have a tart pan this size, you can totally make this in a 9-inch or 10-inch round tart pan with a removable bottom. Bake as directed. And if you don’t have a tart pan, you can also use a 9-inch or 10-inch springform pan, the kind that you make a cheesecake in. Just don’t press the crust dough all the way on the spring form pan. You only need about 1-inch of dough all the way around the sides of the pan.
Because a springform pan has taller sides, heat won’t reach the center of the filling as easily. So you may need to increase the bake time by 5 to 10 minutes.
Can I use a different fruit?
Yes! Play around with this recipe by subbing out a pitted and sliced stone fruit like peaches, nectarines, plums or cherries. Bake as directed but keep an eye out on bake time, as some fruit cook faster than others.
How do you store this tart?
Store this tart in the refrigerator, in an airtight container, for 1 to 2 days.
If you like this apricot tart, check out these other summer fruit recipes:
- Apricot and Berry Cobbler
- Blueberry Pie
- Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
- Mixed Berry Galette with Chocolate Crust
- Strawberry Rhubarb Galette
- Fig and Blackberry Tart with Walnut Crust
- Summer Fruit Pie with Crumb Topping
- Plum Crisp with Ginger
Apricot Frangipane Tart with Rye Crust
Equipment
- 8 x 12 rectangular tart pan with removable bottom or 9-inch or 10-inch round tart pan with removable bottom
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 1/2 cups rye flour 185 g (can substitute all-purpose or whole wheat)
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature 115 g or 1 stick
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted to remove lumps 35 g
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon water
Filling
- 1 1/2 cups almond flour or almond meal 145
- 1/3 cup white sugar 135 g
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature 85 g or 3/4 stick
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons rye whiskey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 8 apricots about 8 ounces
Instructions
- Make the crust dough by placing the rye flour, butter, powdered sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix until the butter is broken down and the mixture looks like sandy pebbles.
- Beat the egg and the water together and then drizzle it into the bowl. Mix until a dough forms.
- Press the dough into the bottom and up the sides of an 8 x 12-inch rectangular tart pan. There is just barely enough crust, so make sure to work the dough thin. I find it’s easier to press the dough around the sides of the pan, then use the remaining dough to fill the bottom. Just stretch it out, it doesn’t need to be thick. If the dough is too sticky, wet your fingers slightly and use that to press the dough in.If you don’t have a rectangular tart pan, you can use a 9 or 10-inch round tart pan instead.Prick the bottom of the tart crust all over with a fork.Place the tart pan in freezer for 20 minutes and preheat the oven to 350°F. Once the crust has chilled, place it on a rimmed baking sheet and bake it for 20 to 25 minutes or until the edges start to look slightly darker, and the crust is dull matte instead of shiny.Keep the oven on the same temperature but let the crust cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack.
- While the crust is cooling, make the filling by placing the almond flour or meal, sugar, salt, and butter in the same bowl of the stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Don’t bother cleaning the bowl or the paddle, it’s fine if it still has a little residue dough from the crust. Mix the ingredients together until it starts to clump together, and you can’t see any more butter lumps.
- Add the egg, rye whiskey, vanilla, and almond extract, mixing until a smooth paste forms.
- Spread the frangipane paste inside the tart pan.
- Cut the apricots in half and discard the stone pit. Slice the apricot into 4 or 5 slices with a sharp knife, and then place them cut side down onto the frangipane filling. Return to the hot oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the frangipane filling is puffy, starts to turn golden brown, and the apricots are soft.Let cool on a wire rack until only slightly warm to the touch, about 30 minutes, then serve immediately.
Tim Treeo says
I love it. My kids also love it! So delicious
miller says
This frangipane apricot tart looks absolutely delicious and tastes even better when played harvest simulator while eating it.