Frangipane Galette

I've been wanting to try baking a frangipane tart of some sort for ages. How could you possibly improve the combination of buttery crust and juicy fruit, other than to add almond paste! I was delighted to discover Shirley Corriher's Bakewise recently, and I've been looking forward to trying her Rustic Pear Tart. However, as usual, after reading the recipe over a few times, I decided I'm much too lazy to go through all that effort, when it seemed like I could just make the frangipane paste and add it to my trusty favorite Pear Galette (adapted from Baker's Dozen). Well, here's what happened.


First, I discovered much too late in the process (past the point of no return) that my pears weren't ripe! I decided to cut them extra thin and add extra sugar to make up for it. See how dry and hard they look:

Next, I realized that it didn't make sense to put the flour/sugar mixture on the frangipane, so instead I tossed it with the pears (and used only half the usual amount, since the pears were so hard):

The frangipane was very sticky, and I had a hard time spreading a nice thin layer. I tried using a silicone spatula, a greased offset spatula, and greased fingers. In the end, slightly wet fingers worked best. Still, I didn't get it as thin as I wanted. I also used less than half the amount called for in Shirley's rustic pear tart recipe.

Because I was adding an extra layer of stuff, I decided to use less pear (2 instead of 3-4), to keep the galette from getting too thick.

Despite the generous dusting of sugar, the pears still came out quite dry. I wasn't entirely sure if the frangipane was cooked all the way through when it came out, but I didn't want to risk burning the crust, so out it came.

The result: Turns out the frangipane is waaaayyyy too sweet for me! Totally overpowers everything else. Can't really taste the butter in the crust or the pears on top. Also, although the hazelnut/almond mixture tastes good, I think I'd prefer an all-almond paste. I wonder how much better this would have been if the pears had actually been ripe. Or whether it would have baked out okay if I had piled on another pear. I'm happy to say that the crust still came out wonderfully - flaky, crispy, with just a little bit of bite.


Next time, I need to make sure to use ripe pears. Use all almonds, no hazelnuts. And cut the sugar down significantly.