Fig Tart

It's august and the figs are coming in by the buckets, and having a pretty large fig tree right in our backyard, makes for a nice and happy summer for me! I've made fig preserves, about 80 half pints; fig bread, yet to share that recipe; Ate them fresh of the tree drizzled with honey and just today finally made a fig tart. It's absolutely fantastic, and if you can get your hands on some figs, don't hesitate to try this recipe!

Ingredients for 2 about 9 inch tarts:

Pastry:

2 1/4 cups of flour

1/2 cup cold unsalted butter cut into pieces

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (if needed) cold water

Filling (Frangipane)

1/2 cup almond meal or whole almonds lightly toasted

1/3 cup sugar

5 tablespoons of butter

1 egg

20 figs cut into 3 pieces each

egg wash (1 egg beaten with a splash of milk)

1 tablespoon sugar

In a food processor mix flour and cold butter. Add water little by little and keep pulsing until it starts to crumble. Remove pastry dough from food processor, make it into a ball and place on a piece of plastic film. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to a day. You can freeze this dough for up to 2 months, just bring it to room temperature before rolling.

In a food processor mix together frangipane ingredients, if using whole almonds , pulse them with sugar first and then add the other ingredients.

Preheat oven to 400F.

Remove dough from refrigerator and cut it in half. Roll out pastry dough on a floured surface to a 9 inch round( no need to be perfect).  Lay both round pastries on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Spread frangipane all over dough, leaving about 2 inches on the sides. Lay fig thirds all over frangipane. Fold pastry up towards the figs, using your fingers. Brush sides of tart with egg wash and sprinkle sugar on top of egg wash.

Bake tart in the middle shelf in the oven for about 40 minutes or until the crust is light brown.

Serve with fresh wiped cream.