29 Jul 2024, 00:00

With Martha Bakes, discover Martha Stewarts tips and techniques to create delectable baked goods. Be sure to check your local listings to see when the program will be airing in your area.

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Frangipane, a sweet nut cream, is a common component of many well-loved baked goods. In this lesson, discover how Martha incorporates frangipane, made with a variety of nuts, into four remarkable recipes: the beloved French pastry known as Bostock, a classic English bakewell tart, and an apricot tart made with a hazelnut frangipane. Plus, a pecan-frangipane coffee cake that is sure to become a family favorite.

This Week’s Recipe

Bostock

Martha Stewart's Bostock recipe appears in the Frangipane episode of Martha Bakes.

Ingredients

1 cup granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2/3 cup blanched whole almonds, toasted, plus 1/2 cup unblanched sliced almonds, for serving
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon dark rum
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
One 3/4-pound loaf brioche
1/2 cup apricot jam
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment paper. In a small pot, combine 1/2 cup each granulated sugar and water and the vanilla bean; cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes.

In bowl of a food processor, combine whole almonds and remaining 1/2 cup sugar and process until finely ground. Add butter, egg, flour, rum, salt, and almond extract, and process until frangipane is smooth.

Slice brioche into eight 1-inch-thick slices. Brush both sides of each slice with vanilla simple syrup; place on prepared baking sheet. Spread each top evenly with 1 tablespoon jam and then 3 tablespoons frangipane.

Bake until golden brown, 13 to 15 minutes. Sprinkle with sliced almonds and dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

Yield: 8 servings