almond tart with sauteed bananas with rum and cinnamon ／バナナのラムシナモングラッセのタルト

Good day folks! I now present to you... tart number three!

It's filled with frangipane (almond cream) and topped with thickly sliced bananas coated with a sticky caramel laced with rum and cinnamon that sit atop a generous spread of cream whipped together with the aforementioned caramel. Divine medley of flavours. If coffee was thrown into the mix the result would be explosive! Coffee and caramel and banana are just so crazy good together. I'm definitely going to create a tart with those flavours someday, maybe after I've finished baking this entire book (which won't be long judging by the speed at which I'm tearing through it).

The tart was pretty pleasant overall but I felt that the frangipane was slightly dry. Perhaps I'd overbaked it. I also made the filling a day before and used it when it was a little stiff from the coldness of the fridge - I wonder if that played a part too? Anyhoo, I'll probably give the frangipane another try and see where the problem lies.

So, amongst the three tarts I've tried three different types of fillings, which are the basic ones in the book. I would have to say that the pastry cream is my favorite. I still can't get over how fragrant the rum made it! I'm a little disappointed that not many recipes in the book use pastry cream as a filling but that pretty much means that I'll be baking every single one that calls for it. Looks like choosing what to bake just got easier!

It's pictures galore again today because tarts are just so easy to capture like that. And the fluted edges make them look extra gorgeous! I wish I'd invested in fluted tart pans earlier so that I could have made the previous two tarts using those pans.

Oh and the recipe actually called for persimmons but I substituted them with bananas because it isn't persimmon season. I should have just switched recipes but bananas + caramel + rum + cinnamon sounded too enticing!

Almond Tart with Sauteed Bananas with Rum and Cinnamon ／バナナのラムシナモングラッセのタルト
makes a 7 inch tart

For the crust, follow the recipe here. After you've pressed the dough into the tart mould leave it in the fridge to chill while you make the frangipane.

For the frangipane:
60g butter
60g sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp rum
20g cake flour
60g ground almonds

Cream the butter until smooth. Add in the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg bit by bit and stir in the rum. Stir in the cake flour and ground almonds until combined.

Scrape into the prepared crust and bake at 170C for around 40 minutes or until brown. Cool completely.

For the bananas:
2 to 3 bananas, thickly sliced on a diagonal
4 tbsp sugar
20g butter
1 tbsp rum
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Place the sugar in a saucepan and heat on medium heat until the sugar has melted and caramelized. Immediately remove from heat and stir in the butter and rum. When the mixture is smooth, return to low to medium heat and stir in the sliced bananas, ensuring that they're evenly coated. Stir for 30 seconds. Stir in the ground cinnamon and remove from heat. After the mixture has cooled to room temperature, chill in the fridge until completely cold.

For the caramel cream:
100ml heavy cream
2 to 3 tbsp of the cooled caramel from the bananas

Whip the cream and caramel until medium stiff peaks.

For assembly:
almond flakes and pistachios, toasted and cooled (optional)

Spread the caramel cream on top of the tart. Arrange the bananas on top of the cream, remembering to make the center a little higher than the rest. Sprinkle with the toasted nuts.