This Gluten-Free Apricot Almond Frangipane Tart is an elegant dessert worthy of serving for a special occasion.
I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook. It can be a huge time sucker. On the other hand, it’s a great way to stay in touch with people you don’t see often. I’ve been able to reconnect with several childhood neighbors and high school classmates, gotten to know people before I actually meet them in person, and stalked discovered when people were traveling nearby. A few years ago, we actually met up with some old college friends who we hadn’t seen in over 25 years, while vacationing in Hawaii. Our friends saw a picture I posted on Facebook and asked where we were staying. It turned out we were just down the road from them, so we were able to meet up with them and meet their kids.
A few weeks ago, I noticed an old friend was visiting her folks in Connecticut so I reached out to see if she could pop over for dinner one night. We hadn’t seen her in over 20 years, so we were thrilled when she and her kids took us up on our invitation. We met her kids for the first time and caught up on what was going on in each of our lives. That’s the thing with good friends. Although a lot of time had passed, we had a great time. The kids got to know each other a bit, and I made a big dinner for everyone.
My friend’s two kids are celiac, so I wanted to make a special dessert for the occasion. They actually go to celiac camp each summer where they can enjoy all the gluten-free food they like. However, this summer, one of the kids missed celiac camp, so he was especially excited when dessert time came around. Apparently, gluten-free pastries are a rare treat, so this Apricot Almond Frangipane Tart was a really special treat for them. They actually fought over the extra piece.
I found some gluten-free puff pastry at Whole Foods in the freezer section, a new product I’d never seen before. It’s amazing how many more gluten-free options there are today than just a few years ago. Although this puff pastry didn’t puff up as much as regular puff pastry, it’s a decent gluten-free option for celiacs who are craving pastries.
I made Almond Frangipane to spread on top of the puff pastry, which is essentially ground almonds, sugar, butter, egg and a little gluten-free flour. It adds some nice flavor and a little more substance to this pastry. Fresh apricots are placed on top, and then brushed with melted peach jam after baking for a nice glaze. A sprinkling of confectioner’s sugar finishes this elegant dessert off.
Welcome to another edition of Progressive Eats, our virtual version of a progressive dinner party. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, a progressive dinner involves going from house to house, enjoying a different course at each location. With Progressive Eats, a theme is chosen each month, members share recipes suitable for a delicious meal or party, and you can hop from blog to blog to check them out.
We have a core group of 12 bloggers, but we will always need substitutes and if there is enough interest would consider additional groups. To see our upcoming themes and how you can participate, please check out the schedule at Creative Culinary or contact Barb for more information.
This month’s theme is Stone Fruits hosted by Ansh of Spice Roots. I hope you enjoy all the stone fruit recipes we made for this special event.
Stone Fruits
Appetizer
- Grilled Peaches, Basil and Honey Appetizer from Miss in the Kitchen
Salad
- Black Plum, Avocado, and Mozzarella Salad from The Wimpy Vegetarian
Main Courses
- Peach Barbecue Sauce from Stetted
- Lamb and Fresh Plum Tagine from Spiceroots
- Pan-Seared Duck Breasts with Fresh Plum Sauce (GF) from The Heritage Cook
Side Dish
- Hot Curried Georgia Peaches from Never Enough Thyme
Desserts
- Peach-Bourbon Upside Down Cake from Creative Culinary
- Stone Fruit Panzanella Dulce (Dessert Panzanella) from Pastry Chef Online
- Peach Raspberry Galette from That Skinny Chic Can Bake
- Yogurt Plum Coffee Cake from girlichef
- Gluten-Free Apricot Almond Frangipane Tart from Jeanette’s Healthy Living
- Stone Fruit Cobbler from Food Hunter’s Guide
Apricot Almond Frangipane Tart Recipe
Ingredients
Almond Frangipane
- 2/3 cup sliced or slivered almonds lightly toasted
- 1/3 cup organic sugar
- 6 tablespoons organic unsalted butter cut into pieces
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 1/2 tablespoon gluten-free flour mix
Apricot Tart
- 10 ounces Gluten-Free Puff Pastry Sheets the pack I used came with 2 sheets
- 10 small apricots halved, pit removed
- 1/3 cup peach jam melted
- organic confectioner's sugar
Instructions
Almond Frangipane
- Place toasted almonds and sugar in a food processor; process until fine. Add butter and process until blended; add egg, vanilla, almond extract and gluten-free flour mix; process until blended well.
Apricot Tart
- Place puff pastry sheets on Silplat lined baking sheet and use rolling pin to roll a little thinner, about 1/4" inch. Divide Almond Frangipane between two sheets of puff pastry and spread evenly, leaving a small border (~ 1/2") around all edges. Mixture will spread out during baking.
- Press apricot halves into Almond Frangipane.
- Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown and puffy. Cut off any ragged edges.
- Brush apricots with melted peach jam; sift confectioner's sugar on top.
Recipe Notes
Adapted from Gale Gand
Gluten Free Fruit and Nut Snack Bars {Nature Valley $500 Gift Card Sweepstakes}
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What a marvelous treat for your friend’s children! Any dessert based on puff pastry gets my attention! And with frangipane and apricots? SO yummy!
Thanks Liz – the kids were thrilled to have a gluten-free pastry for dessert!
Beautiful dessert, Jeanette! And now you’re those kids’ hero for making a desser they could enjoy! I’ve never seen gf puff–how cool!
Thanks Jenni – I was so happy I could make something the kids could enjoy. It put such a smile on their face, which was just so precious.
The Artist is already begging me to make this Jeanette! He loves apricots and frangipane – such a classic Italian flavor combination. He is pulling out his calendar, telling when the best day to make it will be … TOMORROW! I may not get it done tomorrow, but this is going to be a treat very soon in our home. Thanks so much for sharing your recipe!!
I hope The Artist enjoys this as much as our company did!
Its always fun to meet old friends. It feels time never went away and you catch up from where you left off. How incredible that you could make a nice and gorgeous dessert for your friend’s kids.
It is really nice to catch up with friends you haven’t seen in so long. And you’re so right, it never feels as long as it’s been and it’s so easy to catch up.
haha, yes to everything you said about Facebook! 🙂 love love love this apricot-almond-frangipane-tart!! it’s beautiful!
But you’re so GOOD at Facebook! (: I love/hate too….so much!
Just picked 80 pounds of peaches. Bet I could make this with peaches too. Am totally going to do! It’s so gorgeous!
Gorgeous tart Jeanette!! I’m going to be on the lookout now for the GF puff pastry at Whole Foods. How wonderful you were able to re-connect with your friend, and enjoy a fabulous dessert together too!
A fantastic gf dessert, Jeanette. Anything with frangipane has got to be delicious.
I have that same relationship with FB. I swear, it’s a necessary evil these days. This tart looks stunning, I adore almond and stonefruit together, and how perfect that it is gf!
I feel the same way about FB but so glad you were able to get in touch with your old friend 🙂 I can see why they loved this tart so much, it looks incredible and I love that it’s gluten free too.
What a beautiful, elegant dessert! And how nice that you prepared it especially for kids who rarely get that sort of treat!