Being a fig fan is like loving the cat…most of the time it’s a one-way relationship, unrequited; but persevere and every now and then, you’ll get one back. Like a nuzzle in the face in the dead of night, along comes a big, fat, juicy one. Sweet, exotic and ripe with the colour of bruises…hallelujah. But let’s be honest, for the most part figs are a let-down. Underripe, dull and at 80p a pop, overpriced.
Perhaps the inventor of the fig roll found them as disappointing as I do; the idea of blitzing them to smithereens and stuffing them in a biscuit is genius.
Fig and almond is also a winning formula: I’ve taken a belt and braces approach with this one though and incorporated a fig-roll style layer in the base of the tart just in case the real fruit turn out to be duds. I’ve also sweetened the fig layer with honey for added measure, and added a glug of Drambuie, but that’s purely because it’s been hanging around for a couple of years and no one in our house drinks it. I suppose I could try it on the cat and see if that makes him any more amorous towards me during daylight hours…
You can substitute the Drambuie for other more palatable liquors you may have knocking about or omit it altogether. I serve the frangipane warm, with a good dollop of mascarpone sweetened with a little more honey.
Ingredients
(portions into 10)
1 x 24cm blind baked pastry case
For the fig layer
225g dried/semi-soft figs
2 x tablespoons runny honey
1 x tablespoon Drambuie (optional)
For the frangipane
185g softened butter
185g caster sugar
185g ground almonds
3 eggs
30g plain flour
1 or 2 x teaspoons almond extract
8 – 12 fresh figs (depending on size) halved
30g/handful of flaked almonds
Preheat the oven to 175⁰C.
Before you do anything else, get your butter out of the fridge so that it can soften. And get your eggs out too so that they can come to room temperature, break them into a bowl and beat them together with a fork to speed up the process.
Remove the hard stalk from the end of each fig, roughly cut each one in half and put them in a small pan along with 150ml of water. Bring to a simmer, then whack on a lid and turn off the heat, leaving the figs to plump-up and soften for 20 minutes. Longer won’t hurt, but you need them to be warm to make the spreadable base layer.
Drain the figs in a sieve and reserve their poaching water. Add the figs, honey, Drambuie (if using) and 2 tablespoons of the figgy water to a food processor and blitz into a smooth, soft, but not runny paste. Spread this evenly over the base of the pastry case.
Make the frangipane filling by creaming together the sugar with the butter, using an electric hand whisk until the mixture is fluffy, almost mousse like and has changed colour to an off-white, the same as if making a sponge.
With the beaters still running start adding the eggs a little at a time, following each addition with a light dusting of flour to prevent the mixture from curdling. Continue in this way until all the egg is in.
Stop beating and now fold in the ground almonds along with any leftover flour. Add the almond extract and fold this in too.
Pour the frangipane into the pastry case and level the top. Plant the fresh figs cut side down on top of the frangipane working around the outside edge first, then fill in the centre. Sprinkle the flaked almonds over the top and shove it in the oven.
It can take anywhere from 45 mins to an hour sometimes, but check after 20 mins – if it’s starting to take too much colour you might want to cover it loosely with some baking paper for the remainder of its time. When it’s ready it will be firm in the centre and slightly raised, just like a cake. If you’re unsure insert a cocktail stick/metal skewer into the centre and test that it comes out clean.
Leave the tart to cool in its tin for 15 mins before attempting to remove it, but if you’re not eating it straight away leave it in the tin to cool completely before refrigerating.