BPA 100: Frangipane Pear Tart and Gingersnap Cookies

BPA 100
Day 6, Thursday
11.06.2008

Frangipane Pear Tart, Gingersnap cookies, and Gingerbread dough


The base of the Frangipane tart is Pate Sucree. Following a 3:2:1 ratio you can calculate the weight of each part we need of flour, butter, and sugar. You need 15 oz of dough, with a total of 6 parts. So divide the 15 oz by 6, and each part weighs 2.5 oz. The recipe then becomes:

3 X 2.5= 7.5 oz pastry flour
2 X 2.5= 5 oz butter
1 X 2.5= 2.5 oz sugar

This dough calls for 1 egg for every pound of flour. It comes out to about ½ an egg for this recipe.

Cream the butter and sugar and then slowly add the egg until you get a good emulsion.

Then add the flour and mix until it combines.

Form a flat round with the dough, wrap it in plastic and put it in the cooler.

Frangipane Filling – ¼ recipe per person
Full recipe in Friberg

213.75 g almond paste
42.5 g sugar
100 g butter
150 ml egg
21.25 g bread flour

This is a traditional filling in baked goods with a base of almonds. It is heavy, dense, and rich. Some recipes use almond paste and some use almond flour; the paste has a stronger taste. Almond paste is made by grinding almonds with sugar and the addition of bitter almond oil, which carries a very strong flavor.

Cream the paste and the softened butter. When they come together and all the lumps of paste are broken you can add the sugar.

Move it up to speed 2. It is good to take your time when creaming to make sure there are no lumps which will affect your final product.

add the egg. The almonds absorb a lot of moisture so this mixture tends not to split. You could also add some vanilla extract at this point if you wanted some extra flavor. Some recipes call for just the egg yolks; this makes a more tender and fatty Frangipane, but also tastier. Add the flour and in this case since it is such a small amount of flour there is no worry about working the gluten.

The strength and structure of the cake comes from the almond paste. You can let it sit out because we are going to be using it in our tarts later. It can only be stored up to 5 days in the cooler because of the eggs.

Rolling the Pate Sucree dough

You roll this dough out just like the other doughs we have worked with, dusting the surface with flour and working quickly so the butter does not begin to melt. Roll the dough to around 1/8”. You can run your hand over the rolled dough and feel the contours of it and where the uneven spots are that need to be rolled more. You want it extremely even. We are using the round tart molds with no bottoms, placing the ring onto a parchment lined sheet tray. The dough is very delicate so it is best to roll it onto the pin and unroll it over the tart mold.

Let it fall into the shell; lift the sides up and let them fall in. Roll the extra dough into a little ball and roll that around the inside edges, pressing in and getting the air out. Roll over the top of the shell with the rolling pin to cut off the excess dough.

Take the jam or preserves and spread a very thin layer on using the offset spatula. You want something acidic and not as fatty to cut the heavy layer of Frangipane.

Add the Frangipane on top and spread evenly, filling about 2/3 high of the shell, almost to the top. We need to leave a little space for the pears and for the frangipane to expand.

Slice the poached pears from yesterday into quarters and then slice them into fans. Begin cutting almost at the top and then follow the shape down. Keep the knife and a slight angle to get a nice shape and smooth fan.

The placing of the pears is important on top; you want 6 fans per tart. Start with two opposite ends and continue the slices in the same direction in a circle. Press them lightly into the frangipane so the will stick and hold when you slice the tart. Arrange some almond slices in the center or around the edges as you like.

The tarts go into a 375 degree F oven for around 25-30 minutes. After about 15 minutes check them and rotate the tray in the oven. When the frangipane is a golden to rich caramel color and springs back to the touch, take it out and let it cool. To unmold the tart use two cake boards and flip it over onto one, loosen the bottom carefully with a small offset spatula, and flip it back onto the other board right side up. You can finish with some powdered sugar or bring some apricot jam and water to a boil and brush that on top to get a nice finish and sprinkle with some crushed nuts.

Gingersnap Cookies

Gingersnap drop cookies – ¼ recipe for two people
Full recipe in Friberg

56.25 g butter
156.25 g sugar
¾ egg
85 g molasses
7.5 g vinegar
198.75 g bread flour
6 g baking soda
1 tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp cardamom

Cream the butter and sugars and then slowly add the egg.

Sift the dry ingredients together onto parchment paper. Add the vinegar and molasses. Pour in the dry ingredients. It is not necessary to take a long time to mix this dough, it is fine to finish mixing it by hand.

Using the #100 scoop, scoop the dough onto a parchment lined sheet and wrap it in plastic and put it in the cooler. We will bake them tomorrow and use them as part of our gingerbread houses.

Gingerbread dough

We made our gingerbread dough for the houses we will assemble tomorrow, as a class in the industrial size Hobart mixer.

The recipe for 30 kilo of dough is as follows:
4300 g shortening
4300 g sugar
5100 g dark corn syrup
1800 ml milk
13,650 g bread flour
120 g baking soda
200 g cinnamon
120 g ground cloves
120 g ground ginger

2 kilo of dough for each pair, about 4.4 lbs