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slice of vegan frangipane tart on a spatula over the rest of the tart

Pear Frangipane Tart

A vegan and gluten free twist on french frangipane tart. This pear frangipane tart is made with walnuts instead of almonds and warmly spiced with cardamom. A perfect dinner party treat!
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Servings: 10
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: French
Calories: 327
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Crust
  • 300 grams walnuts divided; see instructions or blog post for details
  • 200 grams medjool dates
  • 100 grams oat flour
  • 0.5 tsp salt
Frangipane filling
  • 3 tbsp aquafaba drained liquid from a can of unsalted chickpeas
  • 1 tbsp tapioca starch or corn starch
  • ½ tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp cardamom
  • ½ tsp almond extract optional
  • 100 grams walnuts divided; see blog post for details
Topping
  • 3 medium pears divided, see blog post

Equipment

  • 1 8" tart pan

Method
 

Prep the Walnuts
  1. Dry roast the walnuts on a baking sheet for about 8-10 minutes at 350. You'll know they're ready when they start to "sweat" - this is just the heat bringing out their natural oils.
  2. Add the toasted walnut halves (or pieces) to a high speed blender. Pulse into a fine flour. Remove 150 grams of the walnut flour and reserve for later.
  3. Continue processing the walnut flour until it resembles a thick paste. This should only take another minute of processing. Remove 50 grams of the walnut paste and set aside.
  4. With the walnut paste that is still left in the food processor, continue blending on high until a smooth, runny walnut butter forms. This may take up to 5 minutes. Remove the walnut butter and set aside.
The Crust
  1. Add the oat flour, walnut flour, walnut paste, salt and medjool dates to the food processor. Blend until a dough forms. The dough should be moderately tacky and stick together when pressed. If your dough is on the dry side, add water 1 tablespoon at a time while the blender is running until you reach a tacky consistency.
  2. Press the crust in an even layer into a small pastry dish. Start with the sides, then level out the bottom.
Frangipane Filling
  1. Slice each of the pears vertically into two halves, leaving space on either side of the stem to avoid the seeds. Reserve these halves for decorating the top. Cut off the remaining two smaller sections from the side of each pear - add these smaller sections to the food processor.
  2. To the food proce

Notes

Walnuts: start with 300 grams of walnut halves or pieces - this is about 2.5 cups. We will blend these into 3 different textures, removing as we go. First, a fine walnut flour (200g) to use in the crust. Next, a sticky walnut paste (30g) for the frangipane filling. Third, a thin and smooth walnut butter (70g) that is also for the frangipane filling.
Pears: start with 3 medium pears. Slice each pear into two halves, avoiding the center. This gives 6 halves. Set these aside for the topping. Return to the pears. Cut away the smaller quarters, leaving a long rectangular core. Discard the cores, but keep these 6 smaller sections - they will be used in the frangipane filling.