Mini Almond Pie with Fresh Figs Recipe

Mini Almond Pie filled with delicious almond cream and topped with figs and whipped cream are a perfect way to show off seasonal favorites like figs, cherries, blueberries, peaches or any topping you can think of.

I love almond cream and these Mini Almond Pie with Fresh Figs and Whipped Cream are made with the best almond cream recipe I have ever tasted.  In fact, it may be my favorite of all the recipes I learned in culinary school. Almond cream is so versatile that you can use it in just about any kind of pastry from danishes and croissants to pies and tarts.  I have even been known to put it on bread and toast it in the oven.  The best part of this recipe is how fast and easy and fool proof it is.  Really, you can't mess it up.

So, how did I come up with figs on top of itty bitty almond pie?  Well, the other day, I saw these cute little figs at the market.  I mean really.  Have you ever seen food so cute?  I couldn't resist buying them. You should have seen me putting them in the front seat of the shopping cart, carefully arranging them in the grocery bag (no, I didn't let the bag-boy do it) and placing them in the car where the air conditioner would keep them cool.  I got them home and cleaned off a whole shelf in the refrigerator just for the little cuties before it hit me,  "Now what do I do with them?!"

Well, what do you do with fresh figs?  They are way too cute to mash up and put in the middle of a Fig Newton and I couldn't bare to put them in a food dehydrator and watch them shrivel up like little prunes.  Boiling them up for some kind of jam didn't seem right, either.

While I stood there looking at them, I realized they were the perfect excuse to whip up a batch of the almond cream recipe I had from Chef Colley's Commercial Baking class.  You might know it as "frangipane" but, this recipe has quite a bit more egg than regular frangipane recipes so it is lighter and fluffier.  It also has a different proportion of butter than most of the recipes I've used.  I think it is perfect for little Mini Almond Pie.

Don't worry, you don't have to call it a "frangipane tart."  I'm not sure I can get my big o' boys to eat something called a "frangipane tart" that's why I just call them Mini Almond Pie.  But, you  can call them anything you want.... just try them!  Trust me, you'll love them.

Roll out chilled pie crust on a lightly floured surface.  Use a chilled rolling pin, if possible.  I often use a cold can of soda to help keep the butter chilled and the pie crust flakey.  If you use a regular wooden rolling pin, you can go over the crust with a chilled soda can to chill the butter back down.  I used a pre-made pie crust that you can purchase in the refrigerator section of just about any grocery store.  Not only is it faster, I like the crust these delicate little almond pie to be very, very thin.

If you would like to make your own crust, check out the recipes for pie crust on some of my friend's blogs.  Barbara has a great pie crust and Lindsey tells all her pie crust secrets on Design Mom.

Cut the dough into circles just large enough to fit into your muffin tin or tart mold.  You may combine the scrapes of dough and roll them out to make more circles but, keep in mind that they may be tougher in texture than the original batch do to the additional flour and kneading of the dough.

Spray the tin or molds with non-stick spray.  Place the pie crust circles into the tin or molds as evenly as possible.

Use scraps of dough to form a little ball and press the crust into the tin or mold to keep from tearing holes in the crust.  Cut off excess dough that sticks over the edges of the molds.

Mix the almond paste and sugar together.  Beat in the butter until creamy.  Add each egg one at a time.  Slowly add the cake flour. Spoon almond cream into a pastry bag or zip bag and cut off the corner to pipe into the pie crust.

Fill the mini pie crusts ¾ of the way to the top.  Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 16 minutes or until set and lightly golden brown.  Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes.  Turn out of the muffin tins or molds and continue to cool on a wire rake.

Serve the  mini almond pie with figs or any fruit you would like.  Top with whipped cream and a little of the fruit juice.  Garnish with sliced, toasted almonds if desired.

I really hope yo will give these Mini Almond Pie a try with or without the figs.  You can choose any fruit you like.  I think cherry and almond go well together, peach  and almond, plum and almond....

 

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—posted by Sandy