A fancy name and a fancy dessert. This beautiful and delicious sweet tart was sold at a patisserie shop next to my home. We use to always try new things they make. This was one that I ate on a regular basis. Now that I am all grown up and can make it for myself, I feel I was really lucky to have access to such a fancy dessert.
Alcazar is an almond tart with any Jam you like. My mother in law gave us some of her homemade apricot jam, so that is what I used in my recipe. Let’s cook together and have some fun! 🙂
This recipe makes one 9 inch tart.
Ingredients
Sweet pastry dough
- 140 g Unsalted Butter (room temperature}
- 3/4 cup Powdered Sugar
- 1/4 cup Almond Flour
- 1 Egg
- 2 Cups All Purpose Flour (Sifted)
- Pinch of Salt
“Financier” Paste
- 3/4 cup Almond Flour
- 3/4 cup Powdered Sugar
- 1/4 cup All Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 3 Egg Whites
- 90 g Unsalted butter Butter
Almond Paste
- 1 cup Almond Flour
- 1/3 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 Egg White
- 2 tsp Apricot Jam
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- Apricot Jam
- Almonds (blanched and peeled)
Making the Sweet Pastry Dough
I started by mixing my butter and sugar in the stand mixer bowl. Once incorporated, I added my egg, after 30 seconds of mixing, I added my powdered sugar, almond flour, all purpose flour, and salt. I mixed everything together until they were well combined and they formed a smooth dough.
I shaped the dough into a ball, and placed it between 2 large pieces of parchment paper, and I rolled it until it was 5 millimetre thick circle. I placed it in the fridge for 2 hours. Meanwhile, I prepared the “Financier” and almond pastes.
Making the "Financier" Paste
To make this paste, I started by browning my butter. To do so, I placed the butter in a small saucepan on medium low heat stirring occasionally. I kept it on the stove until the butter stopped clattering, became brown, and smelled nutty. I then removed it off the heat and strained it in a small bowl placed in icy water to stop it from continuing to cook and prevent the butter from burning.
I added my almond flour, powdered sugar, all purpose flour into a stand mixer bowl and mixed them together. I then added my vanilla extract and egg whites and continued mixing until combined. I finally added my browned butter and mixed until the paste was smooth.
Making the Almond Paste
I mixed together my almond flour and sugar in a large bowl. I then added my egg whites, apricot jam and vanilla extract and kept mixing until everything was combined.
Putting Everything Together
Once my sweet pastry dough had spent the 2 hours in the fridge, I took it out and placed it in a 9 inch tart mold. I pressed the bottom to make sure the dough is equally spread and touching the bottom. I then pressed the dough onto the sides. I docked my dough with a fork to make sure it cooks evenly in the oven. I spread a thin layer of apricot jam and placed the Financier paste on top. I placed my tart mold in a pan (it makes it easier to remove from the oven) and placed it on the middle rack of an oven preheated to 350 degree Fahrenheit or 180 degree Celsius . I removed it from the oven after 20 minutes.
I placed my almond paste in a pastry bag and piped them in a diamond pattern across the surface of the tart. I then piped some paste along the inside of ring of the tart dough. I placed it back in the oven on broil for 7 minutes or until the top is lightly browned. I removed it from the oven and let it cool for about 15 min. I removed it from its mold and filled the diamonds with apricot jam. I finally garnished the tart with an almond in the center of each of the apricot filled diamonds.
Just delicious! The almond and the apricot jam complement each other to give the tart a perfect taste with every bite.
Enjoy! 🙂
