The homemade ‘Raspberry Frangipane Cake’ with buckwheat and cane sugar is filled with raspberry preserves and frangipane cream—a rustic dessert perfect for breakfast or an elegant dinner. Frangipane is a classic Italian* pastry cream made with eggs, butter, sugar, and almonds. It is intensely fragrant, making it a perfect pairing for fresh fruit, jam, biscuits, and pastries. While it shares similarities with custard, it maintains a softer and pleasantly grainy texture even after cooking (Sale & Pepe, n.d.).

While it is generally agreed that the cream’s name derives from the Italian surname ‘Frangipani,’ there are (as usual) various hypotheses about the recipe’s origin. One popular theory is that the recipe for the cream was gifted by Count Cesare Frangipani to Caterina de’ Medici on the occasion of her marriage to the future king of France (Wikipedia, 2019).

* There are 2 different versions of the frangipane, one is Italian and another is French.

Serves 8

Prep time: 40 minutes

Baking time: 40 minutes

Equipment

Measuring cups and spoons, bowl, mixer, electric whisk, tart mold, rolling pin, scale.

Ingredients:

Buckwheat short-crust pastry

Cold butter: 1 stick and a half (about 6 oz)

Brown sugar: ¾ cup

Honey: 1 teaspoon

Salt: 1 pinch

Egg yolks: 1

Egg: 1

Buckwheat: 8 oz

Rice flour: 3.5 oz

Baking powder: ½ teaspoon

Corn starch: 3.5 oz

Frangipane filling

Butter at room temperature: 7 tablespoons (3.5 oz)

Powdered sugar: 7 oz

Small eggs: 2 (1 if large)

Whole almonds: 1 ½ cups 

Raspberry preserve: 10 oz

Fresh Raspberries: 4 oz

Method:

For the short-crust

1. Weigh and all the ingredients for the short-crust pastry and place them in order on the table.
2. Cut the cold butter into cubes, pour into a mixing bowl, and quickly mix with the brown sugar, honey, and a pinch of salt.

3. Add 1 egg yolk and mix, then add the whole egg and keep on mixing.

4. Mix the buckwheat flour, rice flour, starch and baking powder together, then pour the mixture into the batter.

5. On a sheet of parchment paper, roll out the short-crust pastry to a thickness of 4-5 mm using a rolling pin; transfer it into a 24 cm diameter tart mold and prick the bottom of the pastry with the prongs of a fork. Cover with plastic wrap and let cool in the refrigerator for at least half an hour while you prepare the frangipane.

For the Frangipane filling

1. Put the whole almonds in a food processor (set 1 oz aside for decorations) together with 1 tablespoon of the powdered sugar (take it from the total weight). Mix until the almonds are finely ground. Set them aside.
2. Put the butter and remaining powdered sugar in a mixing bowl and beat using an electric whisk until the mixture is light and fluffy. Mix in the remaining eggs one at a time, and finally add the ground almonds you have previously prepared. Set aside.

Assembling the cake

1. Take the short-crust pastry from the refrigerator and spread the raspberry preserve in an even layer to cover the base using a spoon.

2. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

3. Transfer the almond frangipane into a to a piping bag fitted with a smooth nozzle and distribute it in a spiral pattern over the raspberry preserve. With a spatula, or the back of a spoon, level the surface of the cream.

4. Distribute the raspberries by pressing them lightly into the frangipane, then cut the remaining 1 oz of almonds into fillets and use them to garnish the top of the tart.

5. Reduce the oven temperature and bake at 340°F for about 40 minutes.

6. Remove from the oven and let the tart cool completely before serving. Dust with powdered sugar (optional). Serve cold or at room temperature paired with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream (or another flavor that goes well with berries).

6. Place in a box or cover with cling film and store up to a week in the refrigerator.

Tips:

– You can use a spoon if you don’t have a pastry piping bag for the frangipane.

– If using frozen berries, keep them frozen until ready to distribute into the frangipane.

– If you do not have a food processor, you can use store-bought almond flour.

References

Gatta, R. (2023, August 27). @rudyshecat. @Rudyshecat. https://www.instagram.com/rudyshecat/

iFood. (2020, June 24). Torta frangipane. Dissapore. https://www.dissapore.com/ricette/ricetta-torta-frangipane/

Nast, C. (2023, May 26). Crostata frangipane. La Cucina Italiana. https://www.lacucinaitaliana.it/ricetta/crostata-frangipane/

Rattin, M. (2019, February 14). Crema frangipane: ricetta e abbinamento vino. XtraWine Blog. https://blog.xtrawine.com/crema-frangipane-ricetta-e-abbinamento-vino/

Sale & Pepe. (n.d.). Crostata con grano saraceno mirtilli e mandorle. Sale&Pepe. Retrieved August 29, 2023, from https://www.salepepe.it/ricette/dolci-dessert/torte-crostate/crostate/crostata-con-grano-saraceno-mirtilli-e-mandorle/

Wikipedia. (2019, May 7). Crema frangipane. Wikipedia. https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crema_frangipane