Frangipane
I decided to write a quick something about frangipane since I made some this morning. It is traditionally an almond crème or custard. You can make a frangipane from any nut; it doesn’t have to be almonds. Pistachios and pecans make a lovely base as well. Frangipane can be used in tarts. I love it spread onto croissants and toasted in the oven. You can place it on a slice of bread and toast it, add it to baked oatmeal, incorporate it into bread recipes or layer it in bread pudding etc. Today I used it in a coffee cake layering it between layers of streusel. There’s a ton of recipes for frangipane, some more complicated than others. The one I prefer to use literally takes 5 minutes or less to make and just requires a spoon and a bowl.
4 tablespoons melted unsalted butter, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, ½ cup granulated sugar (mix these ingredients together) ¾ cup blanched almond flour (not almond meal), 1 large egg, 1 tablespoon dark rum (the rum is optional but adds another layer of flavor), 1 ½ teaspoons almond extract. Stir together and that’s it, it’s done and ready to be added to whatever you’d like. It contains egg so it will have to be cooked. If you want to make it with another nut you will need a food processor and pulse the nuts just until they are a meal/flour skip the almond extract and add vanilla extract.