florentine tarts with frangipane filling

hello hello! today i'm going to post another sweet things, helplessly sweet things. i am quite sure that this is a tartlet that every kids in the world would die for. i am exaggerating a bit, but if i was a kid and my mom making this i would run to the kitchen straight away and ate it as fast as i can. man, this sweet-goodies is so incredibly magnificent.

when i saw this tarts for the very first time at Jr. Masterchef, i had already fallen in love with this tarts. moreover, i have never tasted a frangipane tarts before. i wondered what it tastes like. i found frangipane filling is very unique simply because of its name. it's frangipane and frangipane is a name of flower. i personally love the smell of the flower but never imagine how it would taste like. lately, after i entered 'frangipane filling' in the search engine, i knew that my thought was obviously wrong. the frangipane filling has no relation to any of frangipane flowers have ever existed. ha ha. frangipane filling is basically a filling that has a cake/pastry-like texture with almond flavor. i was getting more curious.

a tart with frangipane itself has already have a beautiful delicate soft almond flavor. i absolutely don't mind eating it without any topping on. but the thought of having another rich flavor added to it couldn't stop me from making the topping. especially when the topping involves flaked almond, cornflakes, and caramel. ooh.. la.. la.. . anyhow, when i first saw the recipe i thought this tarts would be too sweet for my liking, so i tweaked it a little with the sugar and honey. i'll still give you the original recipe though. enjoy!

Florentine Tartlets with Frangipane 
adapted from Junior Masterchef
serves 6-8 tartlets

sable pastry:
225 gr plain flour
75 gr icing sugar
pinch of salt
150 gr unsalted butter, chilled, diced
1 egg

frangipane:
40 gr unsalted butter
40 gr caster sugar
1 egg
1 egg white
60 gr almond meal

topping:
50 gr honey
50 gr caster sugar
50 gr unsalted butter
50 gr flaked almonds
60 gr glaced cherries
20 gr cornflakes
100 gr dark chocolate

direction:

1. preheat oven to 180 degree C.
2. pastry: sift flour, icing sugar, and salt in a large bowl. add the butter, rubs until resembles fine breadcrumbs. mix in egg and knead dough until just combined.
3. place half the dough in between 2 sheets of baking paper and roll out as thin as possible approx. 3mm. refrigerate. reserve remaining in fridge.
4. frangipane: add butter and sugar to the chopper attachment of stick blender and blend until thick and creamy, use a spoon to scrape the sides of the chopper if required. add egg and egg white and process until combined. add almond meal and process until combined.
5. grease 6x8cm loose based tart pans. remove chilled pastry from fridge, using a 10cm round pastry cutter, cut discs from pastry and use to line the prepared tart pans and trim any excess pastry.
6. spoon frangipane mixture evenly between 6 tart shells, place on a baking tray and bake in oven for 12-15 minutes or until cooked through and golden. remove tartlets from oven and let cool for 2-3 minutes.
7. topping: combine honey, sugar, and butter in a medium saucepan, stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved and mixture become foamy. add almonds, cherries and cornflakes and stir gently until combined.
8. place chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, stir chocolate until just melted, spoon into piping bag, using scissors snip the end to make a small hole. spoon the topping onto the tarts, then drizzle with chocolate to serve. 

what happened in my kitchen?

• for the sable pastry: i cut down the icing sugar from 75 gr to 50 gr. as the compensation, i added another 25 grams of flour to the dry ingredients.
• make sure the sable pastry stay cold and don't knead it too much, you don't wanna end up with a tough pastry base.
• for the frangipane: i only used 25 grams of caster sugar instead of 40 grams. make sure the filling is baked until light golden brown as you don't want to have an undercooked filling, i'm not sure if mine's perfectly-baked though.
• for the topping: at the very last minute, i just realized that i was running out of honey. so i replaced it with maple syrup (hey, it's maple syrup and butter, they're still a perfect match). and personally i think the topping tastes much more better with maple syrup instead of honey.
• i only made half recipe of the topping and it was enough for 8 tartlets.
• i used smaller tart-shells and smaller cutter and was able to make 8 tartlets.
• eating it while the topping is still hot or warm can lead you into sore throat. please wait, i know it's hard but please..

it's quite a long recipe but seriously, this is to die for. come on try!

thanks for reading, people.

have a very pleasant day!