A Simple Apple Frangipan Tart Recipe That Tastes Like All-Day Baking

Apple Frangipan Tart Recipe – I have a confession: I made this tart on a Tuesday night when I should have been folding laundry.

Apple Frangipan Tart

Lumina Liu

This traditional British dessert features sweet apples in a rich almond filling on a crunchy biscuit base. The Apple Frangipan Tart is a great choice for a teatime treat or a sophisticated dessert served warm with cream or ice cream.

4.8 from 127 votes

Prep Time 30 Minutes

Cook Time 25 Minutes

Total Time 1 Hour 10 Minutes

Course Dessert

Cuisine British

Servings 8 servings

Calories 320 calories kcal

Ingredients

 

• 175g digestive biscuits
• 75g butter
• 200g Bramley apples
• 75g salted butter
• 75g caster sugar
• 2 free-range eggs, beaten
• 75g ground almonds
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 50g flaked almonds

Instructions

 

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Put the biscuits in a large re-sealable freezer bag and bash with a rolling pin into fine crumbs. Melt the butter in a small pan, then add the biscuit crumbs and stir until coated with butter. Tip into the tart tin and, using the back of a spoon, press over the base and sides of the tin to give an even layer. Chill in the fridge while you make the filling.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. You can do this in a food processor if you have one. Process for 2-3 minutes. Mix in the eggs, then add the ground almonds and almond extract and blend until well combined.
3. Peel the apples, and cut thin slices of apple. Do this at the last minute to prevent the apple going brown. Arrange the slices over the biscuit base.
4. Spread the frangipane filling evenly on top. Level the surface and sprinkle with the flaked almonds.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden-brown and set.
6. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 15 minutes. Remove the sides of the tin. An easy way to do this is to stand the tin on a can of beans and push down gently on the edges of the tin. Transfer the tart, with the tin base attached, to a serving plate. Serve warm with cream, crème fraiche or ice cream.

Nutrition

Calories: 320.00 caloriesFat: 22.00 gCarbohydrates: 28.00 gFiber: 2.00 gProtein: 6.00 gSaturated Fat: 9.00 g

Keyword Apple Frangipan Tart, Frangipane, Apple Tart, British Dessert, Baking, Fruity Tart

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The mountain of clean clothes had reached Everest proportions, but there I was, bashing digestive biscuits into submission for a buttery crust instead. And you know what?

I regret nothing. Because sometimes the cure for a perfectly ordinary, slightly overwhelming Tuesday isn’t checking items off your to-do list—it’s the scent of apples and almonds wafting through your kitchen while something golden and beautiful rises in your oven.

When Simple Ingredients Create Magic

There’s something deeply satisfying about a dessert that doesn’t require an emergency trip to a specialty food store.

This Apple Frangipan Tart—a classic British treat—relies on ingredients that are likely already lurking in your pantry and fruit bowl.

Digestive biscuits (graham crackers work beautifully too, for my fellow Americans), butter, apples, sugar, eggs, and almonds. That’s pretty much it. The result, however, is anything but basic.

The beauty of a frangipane filling—that’s the almond cream that puffs up around the fruit—is how it transforms during baking from a simple batter into something that tastes like it required years of pastry training to achieve.

I promise it doesn’t. If you can cream butter and sugar together, you’re already 80% there.

The Components That Make It Sing

Before I dive into the full recipe, let me break down the three simple components that make this tart worth abandoning your household chores for:

The No-Fuss Crust

While I love a good traditional pastry as much as the next baking enthusiast, sometimes you need a shortcut that doesn’t actually taste like a shortcut. Enter the humble digestive biscuit crust.

It’s crisp, buttery, and requires zero rolling pin anxiety. I’ve had pie dough reduce me to tears before (we don’t talk about Thanksgiving 2018), but this crust has never once betrayed me.

The Dreamy Frangipane Filling

Frangipane sounds fancy, but it’s essentially just an almond cream that bakes up into a cake-like texture. It’s the same filling that makes those beautiful bakery almond croissants so irresistible.

The slight bitterness of the almonds balances perfectly with the sweetness, creating a complex flavor that belies how easy it is to make.

The Apple Arrangement

Listen, I’ve seen those Instagram-perfect tarts with apple slices arranged like blooming roses. I’ve attempted them too.

But there’s something charming about a more rustic approach—slightly overlapping apple slices that sink into the frangipane as it bakes, creating little pockets of tender fruit throughout.

It’s far more forgiving, and honestly, it tastes just as good when you’re eating it in your pajamas at the kitchen counter.

Let’s Make an Apple Frangipan Tart

Now that I’ve convinced you (I hope) that this tart is worth making, let’s get to the actual recipe:

Ingredients

For the crust:

• 175g (6oz) digestive biscuits
• 75g (3oz) butter, melted

For the filling:

• 200g (7oz) Bramley apples (or any tart baking apple)
• 75g (3oz) salted butter, softened
• 75g (3oz) caster sugar
• 2 free-range eggs, beaten
• 75g (3oz) ground almonds
• 1 tsp almond extract

For the topping:

• 50g (1¾oz) flaked almonds

The Method to the Madness

First things first, preheat your oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.

There’s nothing worse than having a tart ready to bake and realizing your oven is cold. Not that I’ve done that multiple times or anything.

Creating the Crust

Place your digestive biscuits in a large freezer bag, seal it (this part is crucial unless you want crumbs decorating every surface of your kitchen), and bash away with a rolling pin until you have fine crumbs.

This step is remarkably therapeutic, especially if you’re having one of those days.

Melt the butter in a small pan, pour it over your biscuit crumbs, and stir until every crumb is coated in buttery goodness. Press this mixture into your tart tin, covering the base and sides evenly.

I use the back of a measuring cup for this—it creates a more even surface than my eternally uneven finger pressure. Pop it in the fridge while you make the filling.

Making the Frangipane

In a mixer (or with a good old-fashioned wooden spoon and some elbow grease), cream together the butter and sugar until it’s light and fluffy.

This usually takes about 3-4 minutes, and yes, it really does need that long. The texture here matters.

Add the beaten eggs gradually, mixing well between additions. If it looks slightly curdled, don’t panic—it’ll come together when you add the almonds.

Speaking of which, fold in the ground almonds and almond extract until you have a smooth, fragrant mixture.

Assembling and Baking

Now for the apples. Peel them right before you’re ready to assemble to prevent browning, and slice them thinly.

I aim for slices about 2-3mm thick—thin enough to become tender during baking but not so thin they disintegrate.

Arrange your apple slices over the chilled biscuit base.

You can go for concentric circles if you’re feeling fancy, or just lay them out in an even layer if you’re more like me on most days—ambitious in theory but practical in execution.

Spoon the frangipane mixture over the apples and smooth it out with a spatula. Don’t worry if some apple peeks through—that rustic look is part of the charm.

Sprinkle those flaked almonds all over the top. They’ll toast beautifully and add a wonderful textural contrast.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the frangipane is set. You’re looking for that slight wobble in the center that tells you it’s perfectly baked—firm enough to slice but not so much that it’s dry.

Let it cool for about 15 minutes before removing the sides of the tin. A neat trick: stand the tin on a can of beans and gently push down on the edges. The sides will slide away, leaving you with a beautiful tart still on its base.

Serving Suggestions and Variations

This tart is lovely warm, served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of crème fraîche. It’s equally delicious at room temperature the next day (if it lasts that long), perhaps with your morning coffee.

If you want to play with the flavors a bit:

• Add a teaspoon of cinnamon to the frangipane
• Try pears instead of apples for a more delicate flavor
• Sprinkle a handful of fresh berries over the apples before adding the frangipane
• Drizzle the finished tart with a little warm honey right after it comes out of the oven

The Reality Check of This Apple Frangipan Tart Recipe

Here’s the thing about this tart: it’s not a complex, all-day project.

The hands-on time is maybe 20 minutes, which makes it perfect for weeknight baking when you need a little kitchen therapy but don’t want to be washing dishes at midnight.

Is it the most sophisticated dessert I’ve ever made? No. But is it the one that makes my kitchen smell like a French patisserie and has friends asking for the recipe? Absolutely.

And sometimes that’s exactly what you need—a dessert that delivers maximum impact with minimum fuss, giving you all the satisfaction of homemade baking without turning it into a production.

So the next time you find yourself with a few apples that have seen better days and a Tuesday that needs saving, give this tart a try.

The laundry will still be there tomorrow, but the memory of warm apple frangipan tart might just make that pile look a little less daunting.