This tarte aux figues is a wonderful way to make use of an abundance of fresh figs. It features a buttery pâte sucrée (sweet tart dough), a layer of fig jam, creme d'amande (almond cream) and a beautiful display of fresh figs. Baked until golden brown and caramelized, this French fig tart is bursting with fig flavor!
I love a good frangipane (creme d'amande in French, or almond cream) tart. The sweet, nutty filling is incredibly versatile and works with so many different toppings. I've used it in a rhubarb frangipane tart, a pear hazelnut frangipane tart, and even a peach galette with cornmeal frangipane!
When I recently brought home a box of 16 ripe Brown Turkey figs, I knew I wanted to make some of them into a tart. In this recipe, a buttery sweet tart shell holds a layer of fig jam.
Next comes a layer of creamy almond frangipane filling flavored with freshly ground anise seed, in a nod to the popular anise liqueurs so common in France. The fresh figs are nestled into the almond cream and baked until they are caramelized.
This tart magically transforms in the oven. The pastry develops into a buttery, golden brown shortbread, while the fig jam bakes into a sticky, chewy layer. The tender almond cream puffs up around the figs, which release much of their moisture and turn into sweet bites bursting with concentrated fig flavor.
While this tart may appear complex, it's actually quite an easy dessert recipe. Each of the elements is quite simple to prepare, and several can be made in advance. With a bit of patience, you'll have a wonderful fig frangipane tart.
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Ingredients
* See recipe card for full list of ingredients and quantities.
PÂTE SUCRÉE (SWEET TART DOUGH)
Pâte sucrée - Use this simple, no-fuss pâte sucrée recipe for a tart dough that's buttery and tender like a shortbread cookie, yet stable enough for all your favorite tart fillings!
Almond flour - I like to use finely ground almond flour for a smooth frangipane. You can also use almond meal, which is more coarsely ground. Note that almond meal will provide a more rustic texture.
Ground anise seeds - Anise has a marvelous licorice flavor that pairs well with figs. Anise based liqueurs such as Pastis are very popular in France, so I wanted to incorporate the flavor here.
I used a mortar and pestle to grind the whole seeds into powder. Make sure to use anise seeds, not star anise; they are different spices. Omit the anise if you don't like the flavor.
Unsalted butter - It should be at room temperature so that it combines easily with the other ingredients.
Fig jam - Spreading a generous amount of fig jam on the base of the tart shell creates a delicious additional layer of fig flavor. It bakes into a slightly chewy, caramelized layer that adds a wonderful texture and bite to the soft frangipane.
Fresh figs - I used fresh, ripe brown turkey figs that I found in the produce section at my local grocery store.
Any variety of fresh fig will work for this recipe, although my preference is for the darker Brown Turkey or Black Mission figs. If you're lucky enough to have a fig tree or a neighbor who has one, this recipe is perfect for you!
The figs should be soft to the touch, but not so squishy that they collapse into mush when cut into quarters. The quantity of figs required depends on their size. I made this tart with 10 small figs, and again later with 7 large figs. I recommend buying 12 to make sure you have enough. It won't hurt to eat the leftovers!
Instructions
Learn how to make a tarte aux figues!
PÂTE SUCRÉE
See my easy pâte sucrée recipe for step by step photos and detailed instructions for making this sweet tart dough. No pie weights required!
Make pâte sucrée dough and place into tart pan. Do not bake. Freeze briefly to make sure it's firm.
Spread the fig jam onto the base of the chilled tart. Place back in the freezer for a few minutes to firm up the jam.
Freeze the tart shell for a short time both before and after spreading the fig jam on the base. It will help keep the dough from tearing and make spreading the almond cream on top of the jam much easier.
Add all almond cream ingredients to the bowl of a food processor.
Remove tart shell from freezer and spread almond cream into an even layer.
Pulse until blended into a thick, creamy paste.
Arrange quartered figs in concentric circles, starting from the outside row and working your way in.
Place tart on baking sheet and bake on middle rack of oven for 60-70 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (177° Celsius, Gas mark 4).
Place a pie shield on the crust at around the 40 minute mark. This will allow you to continue baking the tart while protecting the exterior crust from burning. If you don't have a pie shield, substitute with strips of aluminum foil.
Substitutions
- Tart dough - If you're looking for a gluten free tart dough, try this recipe from Alanna of The Bojon Gourmet. She is a master of gluten free baking!
- Almond Flour - If you can't find finely ground almond flour for the frangipane, you can substitute with almond meal, which is more coarsely ground. The texture will be slightly more rustic. Some people prefer it!
- Flour in frangipane filling - If you'd like to replace the flour so that your filling is completely gluten free, replace with an equal amount of cup for cup gluten free flour mix or brown rice flour.
- Figs - Well, it won't be a fig tart, but it will still be delicious! If you can't find any figs, consider using another fresh fruit such as fresh plums or apricots. Dried figs don't have enough moisture and would likely burn before baking is finished.
Variations
Give these variations and serving suggestions a try!
- Chocolate - Make this into a fig chocolate tart by replacing the flour in the frangipane with 10 grams (2 Tablespoons) cocoa powder. You can use either natural or Dutch cocoa.
- Fresh rosemary crust - Add a few teaspoons of finely diced fresh rosemary to the crust when mixing together the dry ingredients.
- Orange - Grate the peel of an orange into the almond cream ingredients before mixing together. Omit the ground anise seed. For an extra orange punch, add ½ teaspoon orange oil. Orange oil is concentrated and helps provide a powerful citrus burst. I find it to be much more flavorful than orange extract.
- With crème fraîche or mascarpone - Serve a spoonful of tangy crème fraîche or rich mascarpone on the side. Drizzle with honey or sprinkle with chopped pistachos (or both.)
- Á la Mode - Top a slice of tart with a scoop of vanilla ice cream - or your favorite flavor! Salted caramel or blood orange ice cream would both be great.
Equipment
For my tart recipes, I use this nonstick carbon steel tart pan with a removable base.
I use a pie shield to protect the outer crust from browning too soon. I ended up adding the pie shield at the 40 minute mark while baking this French fig tart. If you don't have a pie shield, you can use strips of aluminum foil to cover the outside crust.
A half sheet baking pan (18 x 13 inches) keeps the base of the tart from browning too quickly and catches any drips or spills. Sometimes a bit of butter leaks from the bottom of the tart. Save yourself the work of cleaning the oven and use a baking sheet underneath!
Storage
Store the fig tart in the refrigerator, covered in plastic wrap, for up to 5 days.
To freeze leftovers, wrap in plastic wrap and place in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 1 month. Defrost in the refrigerator prior to serving.
Make Ahead
- Make the pâte sucrée ahead of time, roll it out, place it in the tart pan, wrap well with plastic wrap, and freeze it unbaked. This could be done up to a week or two in advance (but only if you won't be using your tart pan in the meantime!) No need to let it defrost before baking.
- Make the almond frangipane filling up to 5 days in advance. Keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature before baking.
Frequently Asked Questions
No! Hooray! This tart shell will fully bake in the oven without the need to par bake the empty shell. Indeed, you'll probably want to use a pie shield to keep the outside crust from browning too much during baking. See the equipment section for the pie shield I use.
There are definitely recipes that use dried figs. This recipe, however, is designed to be made with fresh figs. If you only have dried figs, I'd recommend you use a recipe that has been tested for that specific ingredient. Specialty ingredients are expensive and I always test my recipes to make sure they will turn out for you!
Yes! To freeze tarte aux figues leftovers, wrap in plastic wrap and place in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 1 month. Defrost in the refrigerator prior to serving.
Try these tarts next!
Love this recipe? Please leave a comment and star rating. ★★★★★ Your feedback, suggestions, and adaptations are very helpful to other bakers!
📖 Recipe
Tarte aux Figues (French Fig Tart)
INGREDIENTS
- 1 9.5 inch (24 cm) pâte sucrée, unbaked - stop at step 13 (follow link for recipe)
- 150 grams (1½ cups) almond flour
- 15 grams (2 Tablespoons) all purpose flour
- 150 grams (¾ cup) granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon anise seeds, ground
- 2 large eggs
- 45 grams (3 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, cubed, room temperature
- 120 grams (6 Tablespoons) fig jam
- 9 - 12 fresh figs, stems removed and cut lengthwise into quarters.
INSTRUCTIONS
- Prepare pâte sucrée recipe for a 9.5 inch tart pan. Stop after step 13. Do not bake. Place into freezer to chill.
- Remove the tart from the freezer. Spread fig jam on the entire base of the fig tart. Place back in freezer to firm up for 10 minutes.120 grams (6 Tablespoons) fig jam
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (177° Celsius, Gas mark 4) with rack in center of oven. Meanwhile, make the creme d'amande filling.
- In the bowl of a food processor, add the almond flour, flour, sugar, salt, vanilla, ground anise seed and eggs. Scatter the butter over the top. Process until well mixed. Scrape down sides to ensure all ingredients are fully blended.150 grams (1½ cups) almond flour, 15 grams (2 Tablespoons) all purpose flour, 150 grams (¾ cup) granulated sugar, ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon anise seeds, 2 large eggs, 45 grams (3 Tablespoons) unsalted butter
- Remove tart from freezer. Scoop creme d'amande into tart shell and spread in an even layer over the fig jam.
- Beginning at outer edge, place figs in a circle (thicker base facing out, thinner tip facing in) around the tart. Repeat with inner circle. Depending on size of figs, you may need a third circle in the middle, or to fill in the middle with a few figs.9 - 12 fresh figs
- Place tart onto a baking sheet and bake in oven for 60-70 minutes, until frangipane puffs up and is golden brown, and pastry crust is also golden brown.You may need to add a pie shield to protect the crust starting around the 35 minute mark.
- Remove from oven and cool on a baking rack.
EQUIPMENT
- round tart pan 9.5 inches (24 cm)
NOTES
50 grams (¼ cup) granulated sugar
½ teaspoon Kosher salt
120 grams (1 cup) all purpose flour
1 large egg, separated
Donna Misso says
My son brought me a tray of fresh figs. I've always been a fan of fig jam but fresh i had never tried.
I chose your recipe because it looked so amazing. I followed your instructions to the letter and low and behold a tart like the picture. I was surprised how delectable it tasted. I did add whip cream. It was over the top. Thank you so much for your patience in making the instructions and photo so perfect and the video, is a plus.
Joanna Hill says
This tart is wonderful! The tastiest pastry ever and the addition of aniseed into the frangipane makes it even more delicious. Highly recommend trying this.
Alex says
Wish I could add a picture to show how good it came out! But this tart, although it takes a while, is so worth it! It lookes beautiful and taste the same! I also took the suggestion of adding rosemary to the crust and oh my gosh it’s an amazing addition! It gives it almost a savory complexity which is so good, I think this tart would go great with any garden heavy meditation style meal. Perfect use for both my fig trees and my almond trees!
Hampton says
Hello. I am going to make this for an upcoming supper club. Many fruit tarts will have a brushing of strained, melted apricot jam after baking for a gloss and some added sweetness. What would you think about that?
Kathleen Culver says
Hi!
I think it would be a great addition - you don't need it for sweetness, but it would add a nice sheen to the top.
Thanks!
Kathleen
Andrea says
Wow, this was easy to put together and turned out beautiful and delicious! What a great way to use the figs in my tree!
Lisa says
This was such a beautiful recipe. I ended up with not enough ripe figs on my tree to make a fig tart, but substituted the top with blood plums. Added fig jam and ground aniseed as recommended. Also added the zest of one orange to the frangipane. So so beautiful and such raving reviews! I also wanted to say thank you for adding the ingredient quantity at the bottom of each step. Helped me keep my head while working through the recipe.
Cascadia says
Hello! How long do you bake the crust? Step 8 just says put in the oven, no time (unless I’m missing it). I am new to tarts, can’t wait to try this!
Kathleen Culver says
Hi Cascadia!
Thanks for checking. This tart doesn't have a parbaked crust - you actually form the crust, chill it, and then add the filling before baking it all at one time.
You'll find the baking instructions at the end of the recipe after making the filling and adding the figs.
Happy baking,
Kathleen
Susan says
Will the fig tart freeze?
Kathleen Culver says
Hi Susan,
Yes! Frangipane freezes beautifully, and the figs have been cooked enough that the water content is much reduced and shouldn't pose an issue on defrosting.
I recommend defrosting it in the refrigerator overnight, and then bringing to room temperature unwrapped before eating again.
Enjoy!
Kathleen
Dave says
What a wonderful recipe! Made this today with homemade green fig jam and Mission figs to top off the tart. Decided to add some fresh rosemary to the crust. Looking at your pictures of this tart I knew my family would enjoy it so I made two tarts. So glad I did as everyone absolutely LOVED IT!! Thanks for starting an annual tradition and for putting smiles on everyones faces. Awesome!!!!
Maureen says
I made this for a get together and everyone loved it! Yum yum!
Gina says
Wish I could post a photo. Tart took 70 minutes for me. Haven’t tasted it yet, but it’s beautiful! Next time I’ll half the figs for proper presentation as I have a Violette de Bordeaux tree which are smaller fruits. Nevertheless, this one looks delicious. I’ll rate it once I have a taste but I already know it’s a 5 star recipe.
Lisa says
This was such a beautiful recipe. I ended up with not enough ripe figs on my tree to make a fig tart, but substituted the top with blood plums. Added fig jam and ground aniseed as recommended. Also added the zest of one orange to the frangipane. So so beautiful and such raving reviews! I also wanted to say thank you for adding the ingredient quantity at the bottom of each step. Helped me keep my head while working through the recipe.
Gina says
I have this fig tart this in the oven. I already know it’s going to be a winner!! Can’t wait to have a slice. Don’t skip the anise as the filling is out of this world already.