19 Apr Fig and Almond Frangipane Tart (Sugar and Gluten Free!)

This is a special guest post by Ankie Niesing of Wooden Spoon Kitchen (find her on Facebook or Instagram). Ankie is a total foodie, cooking school owner and food stylist, and full-time feeder of her little family. She doesn’t follow any specific diet yet but is on a journey to eat cleaner and greener.

One Sunday afternoon I was scavenging through the fridge looking for inspiration to feed my little family. I still had some juicy fresh figs from the market and I knew I wanted to make a tart.

Paging through my recipe books, some ideas from Jamie Oliver and Deliciously Ella came to mind. I wanted to create a recipe free from refined sugar and gluten. I also wanted to use the fabulous products I had recently received from Faithful to Nature’s online store.

So this is how this fruity Frangipane Tart came to be. It is a hybrid of at least three recipes combined to become a healthy nutrient dense tart. It is also child approved, I might add, because mine wolfed down at least two slices.

Images: Marsel Roothman

This doesn’t take long to make but I would recommend using a strong food processor.

Gluten Free Fig and Almond Frangipane Tart 

“Frangipane is a filling made from or flavoured with almonds”

INGREDIENTS

For the date ‘jam’:

• 200g dates
• 5ml vanilla extract

For the base:

• 2 cups nuts (I used a mix of macadamia and cashew nuts)
• 1 cup dates
• 1 tsp vanilla powder

For the filling:

• ¼ cup coconut oil
• ¼ cup almond butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup ground almonds or almond flour
• 2 Tbsp coconut sugar (or to taste)
• Zest of 1 orange
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Pinch of Himalayan sea salt
• Fresh figs
• Flaked almonds

To serve:

• Fresh raspberries
• Mint

METHOD

Make the date ‘jam’:

1. Boil dates in hot water until soft.
2. Drain water, add vanilla, and blend until you get a smooth paste.
3. You’ll need 2-3 Tbsp for this recipe – we recommend keeping the rest in the fridge to use on toast, in porridge and in smoothies for added sweetness.

Make the base:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Place nuts in the food processor and blitz until crumbly. Add vanilla powder and one date at a time and mix until you get a crumbly texture.
3. If for some reason it gets too sticky, add more ground nuts until you get a pastry-like consistency.
4. Press the ‘pastry’ into a round loose bottom tin (20cm in diameter).

Make the frangipane filling:

• Crack the eggs in a mixing bowl and add the coconut oil and nut butter. Mix until smooth.
• Add the ground almonds, coconut sugar, orange zest, salt and vanilla. Stir through until smooth.
• Spread the date jam over the base and spread the frangipane filling on top of that.
• Decorate with fresh figs and flaked almonds and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.
• Allow to cool before sprinkling with fresh raspberries and mint and serving with dollops of crème fraîche.