I gave my husband any choice of what I would make for his birthday dessert. He debated back and forth for days between chocolate cake and a fruit based dessert and eventually the fruit won and he settled on this Frangipane Apple Tart.

I'm much better with cupcakes than with pastry dough and apparently being European makes you an expert as my husband took over rolling the dough and giving me pointers. To be fair my first attempt was way too thick and went in the bin.

I didn't make my own dough specifically for this reason. To spend all that time rolling, chilling and waiting to have it go in the bin wouldn't be very nice. Once I feel more confident I'll start making my own.

Frangipane Apple Tart

Ingredients

500g Sweet Shortcrust pastry

100g unsalted butter at room temperature

100g caster sugar

1 egg

1tbs plain flour

100g ground almonds

1/2 tsp almond extract

4-5 apples (I used Jazz)

lemon juice

vanilla sugar (optional)

1.Preheat the oven to 180 C and peel, core and slice the apples. Place the apples in a bowl of cold water with a few splashes of lemon juice to keep them from turning brown.

2. On a lightly floured surface roll out the pastry dough and line a fluted tart tin or pie dish. Prick all over with a fork and chill for 10 minutes (I also sprinkled the base with some vanilla sugar).

3. Blind bake for 10 minutes covered with parchment paper and baking beans (or rice) and 5 minutes without paper.

4. Remove from the oven to cool and make the frangipane by creaming the butter and caster sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and almond extract. Fold in the ground almonds and flour.

5. Spread the frangipane evenly over the pastry base and arrange the apple slices on top (remember to drain the apples a few minutes before you do this). Sprinkle a few teaspoons of vanilla sugar on top. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden on top.

6. This step is optional: I made a sugar syrup to spread over top. I put it on before baking but you could also put it on top after baking. Mix 3 tablespoons of vanilla sugar with 2 tablespoons of water in simmer in a pan for 2 minutes until thick. Using a pastry brush spread over top the apples.