At the corner of Rue Saint-Honoré and the Rue de l’Arbre-Sec sits Raguneau’s bakery, where china vases hold sunflower bouquets and peacocks dangle from the ceiling, ready to be made into pies.

At sunrise, the bakery is bustling with pastrycooks and apprentices while poor Raguneau scribbles furiously, trying to write his last lines about the silvery morning light on paper that Lise will use to wrap pastries later that day.

Of all the divine goodies that come out of Raguneau’s roaring fireplace oven (gingerbread, cream puffs, lyres of pastry!), nothing is held in such high regard as the almond tart.  Raguneau goes so far as to offer a recipe for his beloved treat (in true Raguneau form, of course!):

“”Beat some eggs till they are foamy;
Mix with tangy citron juice;
Then fold in sweet milk of almonds.
Line your pans with pastry dough,
Slowly pour your foam to fill them;
Let them bake till golden brown.
Now remove them from the oven:
Luscious, dainty almond tarts!”

– Raguneau, Cyrano de Bergerac (Edmond Rostand)

 

So, without further ado, I present to you: Raguneau’s Almond Tarts

Ingredients:

(for the crust)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cups almond flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons softened butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

 

(for the filling)

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 1/4 cups almond flour

1 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

4 tablespoons softened butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

 

(for the glaze)

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon almond extract

garnish with fresh, seasonal fruit

 

For this recipe, you will need a 9″ tart pan or 6 mini tart pans (4 1/2″).  If you’re like me and don’t have a tart pan, you can use muffin tins and cupcake wrappers.  The cupcake wrappers will help you get the decorative look of the tart pans.  After my tarts came out of the oven and cooled, I slowly peeled away the cupcake wrappers from each tart.  This gave me about 30 cupcake-sized tarts!

If you do not have almond flour, you may finely chop slivered almonds in a food processor to make your own.

 

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Grease your tart pans.

Begin by making your crust:

Beat (by hand or using an electric mixer) 1/2 cup sugar, 8 tablespoons softened butter, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract.

Add 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour and 3/4 cups almond flour to the mixture.  Stir to combine.  When the mixture is well combined, it will be crumbly and stick together.

Press the crumbly mixture into the bottom of your tart pans or cupcake liners.  Freeze the crusts for 15 minutes.

Remove crusts from freezer and bake for about 10-12 minutes, or when they are just starting to brown.  Remove from oven and let them cool.  Then, begin your filling.

Beat (by hand or using an electric mixer) 4 tablespoons softened butter, 1/4 teaspoon salt,  1 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 1 teaspoon almond extract.

One at a time, add 3 large eggs and stir to combine.  Then, add 1 1/4 cups almond flour, stirring just to combine.  Evenly distribute in crusts.

Place tarts in the oven and bake 16-18 minutes, or until their tops are lightly browned.  Remove from oven and completely cool in their pans.

Prepare your glaze by combining 1 cup powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons milk, and 1 teaspoon almond extract.  Drizzle glaze over tarts and top with fresh seasonal fruit! I opted for raspberries, and they were delicious!

Rather than the glaze, you can also top with a fluffy homemade whipped cream and garnish with fresh fruit.

 

Enjoy your almond tarts with Roxane’s Rosé and curl up with Cyrano de Bergerac!

Bon Appétit!