Hazelnut Frangipan tart with Plums and a vanilla and lemon infused mascarpone.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
4 x 100mm short crust tart bases
1 lemons
15ml brandy
5ml frangelico
2 cups caster sugar
200g unsalted butter
200g hazelnut meal
4 eggs
40g plain flour
2 plums
1 piece of star anise
2 cinnamon quills
30ml red wine
20g honey
400ml water
3 cloves
100g mascarpone cheese
1/2 vanilla pod
Method:
We will begin by preparing the syrup to poach the plums in. In a small sauce pan combine the water, red wine, 1/2 a cup of sugar, honey, the star anise, cinnamon and cloves. Put this on the stove on a low heat and let it boil slowly until it starts to thicken slightly. Now remove the star anise from the syrup, discard the anise and let the syrup cool.
Now we will make the frangipan mixture. Melt the butter and in a large bowl mix it together with 1 cup of caster sugar, eggs, the plain flour and hazelnut meal. Zest half of the lemon and add it to the bowl along with the alcohol. Lay the half vanilla bean flat on your bench with the inside of it pointing up. Use a blunt knife to scrape the tiny beans from the pod, they will look like black paste. Discard the empty pod and put half into the bowl. Give this entire mixture a good stir, it is now ready to bake. Fill the tart cases right to the top and place them on a greased oven tray. Bake them in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 10 minutes, you will recognise that they are done when the mixture no longer looks like liquid. While the tarts are cooking zest the other half of the lemon into the mascarpone cheese along with 3 teaspoons of sugar and the other half of the vanilla beans/paste. Mix the cheese well.
Cut your plums into nice segments and heat the syrup made earlier in a fry pan. Once it boils put the plums in and let them poach in the syrup for 4 minutes. Now remove them and fan nicely on top of the now cooked tarts. Put a dollop of the mascarpone cheese on the top of the tart and drizzle it and the plate with some more of the syrup. Garnish with a fresh mint leaf or the cinnamon quills from the syrup.
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