I love Summer! Beautiful weather, more family time and the beautiful local fruits and vegetables are in full swing! I love to make my old standby recipes but every once in a while I am introduced to a new ingredient that challenges me. This weekend my husband, the gardener, presented me with a basket of gooseberries. Apparently, we have had this gooseberry bush for years, but this is the first year with a sizeable harvest! I had never tasted nor cooked with them before…
So I put out the word on social media looking for suggestions. Most of the responses were jams, crisps, pies and cakes etc. I am not a fan of really sweet desserts and given the tartness of the berries I imagined that a fair amount of sugar would need to be added to these.
I googled gooseberries and found some interesting results there as well. One thing I noticed in a few recipes was mixing gooseberries with almonds…now this was more in my comfort zone. Italians use a lot of almonds in desserts and they pair well with peaches and other berries. A Facebook friend recently posted a frangipane/peach torte using a store bought crust…..ah ha! So here it is my rendition of a Gooseberry, Frangipane Torte! And I must say, it exceeded my expectations….this is delicious! Not too sweet, buttery, almond goodness and a bit of tartness from the berries! Enjoy!
Ciao for now, Natalina
p.s. Fall classes are now posted and filling up fast! Don’t be disappointed, reserve your spot or book your Gift Certificate here!
Gooseberry, Frangipane Torte
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- pinch salt
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled
- 1 tbsp lemon zest, grated
- 1 egg
Filling
- 2 cups gooseberries, top & tailed, washed
- 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 3/4 cups unsalted butter, chilled
- 1 1/4 cups almond flour or ground almonds
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tbsp Amaretto
Instructions
- For the crust: Place the flour, salt and sugar in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until mixed. Add cubes of the chilled butter through the tube while running on low until it is all the consistency of small peas.
- Beat the egg with the lemon zest in a small bowl. Add through the tube while running on low. Process until it is all incorporated into a smooth dough and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Shape into a disk and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Frangipane Filling: Add the sugar, butter and almond flour to the food processor bowl. Pulse until mixed evenly. Add the eggs and Amaretto and process until smooth and evenly incorporated.
- Refrigerate until the dough is chilled.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Roll out the dough about 1/4 inch thick and transfer to a large tart pan with a removable bottom. Prick the dough with a fork all over. The remaining dough could be used to make decorative shapes to add to the top of the torte. Watch they don't burn, cover with tin foil if need be.
- Spread the almond mixture evenly over the crust. Add the berries on top.
- Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes, until cooked through and the crust is golden.
