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Dessert Tart Recipe: Fig and Almond Tart
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Fig and Almond Tart
Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
40 mins
Chilling Time
1 hr
Total Time
1 hr
 
A delicate and flaky tart filled with an almond mascarpone spread and topped with sliced figs. The figs melt into the almond filling and taste jammy for a unique and impressive looking tart. Depending on how sweet your almond paste is may depend on how much sugar or honey you want to use. I err on the side of less sugar otherwise it is a very rich dessert. I happen to love fresh rosemary or lemon thyme sparsely sprinkled over fruit tarts as it adds a savory note to offset the sweetness in the dessert. Use a light hand with the herbs as you do not want them to overpower the dessert. Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis 2008, fig and Almond Tart from Food Network
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: Fig tart, figs, tart recipe
Servings: 6 servings
Author: Ginger
Ingredients
Pie Crust
  • 1 ½ cup 213 g all-purpose flour
  • 1 -2 TB (12 - 24 g) sugar
  • Zest from one lemon
  • 10 TB ( g) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into half-inch (1 cm) pieces
  • 3 TB ice water
Tart filling
  • 3 ½ oz (101 g) almond paste, room temperature and cut into ½ inch ( 1 cm) pieces
  • 1/3 cup (76 g) mascarpone cheese, room temperature
  • 1 TB honey
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • Pure almond extract to taste (if needed) a couple of drops
  • 12 figs, stems removed and sliced into fourths lengthwise
  • 2 tsp of Minced sprigs of Rosemary or Lemon Thyme optional
Instructions
Make the pie dough
  1. Food Processor Method
  2. Add the flour, sugar, lemon zest, and salt into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the mixture is evenly combined. Add the chilled butter cubes and pulse until the mixture looks like large course sand with uneven clumps. Turn on the machine and add the water in a steady stream until large clumps form being careful not to overwork the dough. Tip the mixture onto a clean and lightly floured surface and pat into a disk. Wrap the pie dough with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour, or up to 2 days.
  3. Hand Method
  4. If making by hand, add the flour sugar, lemon zest, and salt into a large mixing bowl. Whisk together until the ingredients are evenly combined. Add the cubed butter and toss them with your clean hands until coated with flour. Smash the butter with your fingers to mix into the flour until the mixture looks like coarse meal with uneven sizes. Add the ice water and stir with your hands briefly until the dough comes together. Tip the dough onto a clean and lightly floured surface and shape into a flat disk. Wrap the disk with plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour.
Mix the almond filling

  1. In a clean bowl of a food processor, add the almond paste, mascarpone cheese, honey, and vanilla. Process until a smooth paste is formed. Scrape down the side of the bowl to blend and process again. Make sure there are no clumps of almond paste in the mix. Taste and add a couple of drops of almond extract if you want the filling to have more almond flavor. Go very light with the almond extract because it is very strong.

  2. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C) with the oven rack in the middle position. Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside.
Assemble the Tart

  1. Remove the pie dough from the refrigerator and if it is too hard, let it rest at room temperature for a couple of minutes. Remove the plastic wrap and place the dough on a lightly floured and clean work surface. Whack the dough with your rolling pin across the dough to soften it up and start forming a circle. Rotate the dough 180° and whack it again 4 times across the dough. Turn the dough over and repeat.

  2. Roll out the dough with your rolling pin starting at the center of your dough and roll it in one direction away from you. Move the rolling pin around the dough circle and roll out in one direction. Turn the dough over and continue to roll and shape the dough until you have a circle with a 12-inch diameter and is ¼ inch (.5) thick. 

  3. Transfer the dough onto your prepared baking sheet by draping the dough over your rolling pin then easing the dough into place.
  4. Spread the almond filling over the dough in an even layer leaving a 2-inch (5 cm) border. Layer the fig slices in concentric circles over the almond filling beginning at the outer rim and working inwards.
  5. Heat the jam for 15 seconds to loosen it up and spread the jam over the figs. You might not use all of the jam, but you want an even layer that is not too thick.

  6. Fold the dough border over the toppings to create an edge. Pleat the border to maintain the circle shape. You can bake the tart right away, but if it took you a while to arrange the tart filling over the dough and you are concerned about the tart expanding and opening up when baking, refrigerate the tart, loosely covered with plastic wrap for 30 minutes or freeze for 15 minutes. 

  7. Bake for 40 minutes or until the crust is a golden brown color. Transfer the tart on the sheet pan to a cooling rack and cool for 10 minutes. Loosen the bottom of the tart with a metal spatula or offset spatula and slide the tart off the parchment paper onto your serving platter. Serve warm or at room temperature.
  8. Best eaten the day it is made.