The Great British Baking Show

That’s where it all started… I absolutely LOVE this show! It’s interesting that as I watched it this year it sparked a lot of desire to get creative with my baking. Seeing these folks put their own flavorings and shapes to their breads was amazing. I had no idea how many varieties of breads, pies, tarts, pastries and cakes, and ways of arranging them and filling them… it’s astounding and exciting!! I think that’s what I love about cooking, there are endless combinations to be tried.

Foolproof Cooking by Mary Berry

One of the judges on the show is Mary Berry, who is apparently a LEGEND in the U.K. When I saw her cookbook on the library shelf at our local branch I had to grab it! When I first glanced through and saw this recipe for an apple frangipane tart it was one of my first on the list to try. But immediately I was a bit frustrated to find all the measurements in grams, temperatures in Celsius, and an apple variety I’ve never heard of… cooking from a British cookbook in an American kitchen isn’t easy! But I got over my fears of doing the calculations and decided to try my best to replicate the recipe even though I have no scale at home.

Digestive Biscuits

If you are from the U.S., a biscuit is something COMPLETELY different from what they are thinking in the U.K. For those from England a biscuit is a cracker! And digestive biscuits are a particular brand of cracker that are really well known and often used to crush up and put under tarts as a crust (like we use our graham crackers). So unless you are looking for an excuse to head to your World Market, you can use plain graham crackers instead of the digestive biscuits. I was really wanting to try to stay true to her recipe and intrigued to taste these  “digestive biscuits” so I took a special trip to World Market to buy a package. I have to say I like them a lot better than graham crackers, they have a wheaty taste and they aren’t as sweet.

Almond Flour

The original recipe calls for “ground almonds” but in my American supermarket I was able to find “almond flour”, in the specialty/organic section of my Fred Meyer.

Toddler Tasks

I was delighted as I read through this recipe to find it has SO MANY SIMPLE tasks that kids can do! It is such a lovely and special looking dessert, without too much fuss and complicated steps to make it. These were some awesome steps my 3 and 4 year old helped to do as I baked this tart. You should adjust these based on how involved you want the kids, or make it on your own, either way I think it’s so delicious!!

Crush the Biscuits

Put the biscuits or crackers into a large freezer ziploc bag and have the kids smash them to bits! This occupied my kiddos for quite a while and they enjoyed it, without making any mess!

Mixing with Butter

I melted my butter in the microwave, then poured the crushed biscuits on top to have Mr. 4 mix it together.

Press Crust into the Pan

Layer Apple Slices

Spread the Filling

Sprinkle with Flaked Almonds

Alright, who is going to try this out?? Let me know your thoughts and how it goes at home! This was such a worthwhile treat to make. It tastes so special, and looks amazing, without requiring too much time and effort. Win-win!

Reality Check

Here is a sneak peak into the mess and chaos that surrounds our cooking endeavors. There were plenty of dishes to do with this recipe! But… I still think it was worth it!

Also, I always require my kids to wash their hands before they help, and today little miss 3 staged a hand washing protest! She refused to wash her hands and kept walking over and yanking the spatula out of Mr. 4’s hand, inserting herself in. I had to put the camera down and assist her with her hand washing. She used to love washing her hands! When did this change?! She is definitely trying my patience every day. 3 years old is no picnic!

Print

Apple Frangipane Tart

Ingredients

• 2 cups crushed digestive biscuits (or graham crackers)
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 3 large golden delicious apples, peeled, cored and sliced thinly

Frangipane Filling

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 2 tsp almond extract
• 1 cup flaked almonds

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Line an 11 inch tart pan (one with a loose bottom) with baking paper by cutting out a circle that fills the base.

2. Mix together crushed biscuits/crackers and butter, then press into lined tart pan to create the crust. Put this into the fridge to chill.

3. In a food processor, place the 1/2 cup sugar. Pulse on it's own for 1 minute to create a finer texture of sugar. (If you have caster sugar on hand, use that and you can skip this step). Add the softened butter and mix.

4. Add the beaten eggs and pulse in the food processor until combined. Add the almond flour and extract and pulse for 1 more minute.

5. Line chilled crust with thinly sliced apples, then spoon the frangipane filling over the top and spread until smooth. Sprinkle evenly with flaked almonds.

6. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 400F or until top is browning and set. Be aware some juices may escape from the tart pan so consider putting a baking sheet on the level below. 

7. Allow the tart to cool for at least 10 minutes before removing from the tart pan. To remove place the tart pan on a large can of beans or similar from your pantry and carefully pull down the edges. The crust can be crumbly. Serve warm with whipped cream if desired (I also like it chilled, without any topping).

Recipe Notes

Recipe Americanized and adapted from Mary Berry's Apple Frangipane Tart recipe from her cookbook Foolproof Cooking