Homemade Frangipane (almond cream filling) with video!

You won't believe how easy it is to make homemade frangipane (almond cream filling) and how well it complements fruit tarts, pastries, and desserts. It has only 5 ingredients and comes together in less than 15 minutes! It keeps in the refrigerator for at least a week and in the freezer for a month.

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Almond cream in a purple bowl being scooped with silver spoon. White and grey background and surface.

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French almond filling

This is a fantastic French recipe for frangipane, also known as almond cream filling. It's creamy and made with almonds, sugar, butter, and eggs. It can include some flour and other flavorings.

It's quite easy to make and looks sophisticated as a base for fruit tarts (pears and apples are the most popular) and pastries like this strawberry Danish braid. But it can also be a filling for a flaky croissant or part of almond swirl cakes.

Depending on the final mixture you want, you can make it by hand or in the food processor, as the texture will be smoother or coarser. You can use ground almonds from whole ones or buy almond flour.

The nerdy comment is that it goes back to 16th century France and is named after an Italian nobleman named Frangipani. He was living in France and had invented a scent made from almonds that bakers of that time used for flavoring when they invented this almond cream.

FAQ

What is the difference between frangipane and marzipan?

Though both are made with almonds and sugar, they are pretty different.
Frangipane, or almond cream, is a creamy mixture. It can be coarser or smoother depending on how it is processed. It contains butter and egg.
Marzipan, also called almond paste, is made with almonds and sugar and has added honey, egg whites or some syrup, like fructose, to help it come together and form a semi-solid paste. It is more of a confection and is mainly used to mold fruits, animals, or other figures, especially during the holiday season.

What is the texture of frangipane?

The texture is thick and creamy but spreadable. It can also be rustic if you use whole almonds with skin and don't process it too much, or it can be smoother if you use blanched almonds (without the skin) and process the mixture longer. The latter will also give a lighter-colored almond cream.

Step-by-step VIDEO

Testing Notes

Food processor: it is essential for making the cream if you don't use almond flour. This recipe doesn't yield much, so a regular-sized one works well. If you want to make the recipe double or triple, ensure your processor is large enough, or make it in batches.

Almonds: Use any type you like. They will be processed so you can use the broken ones. Sometimes you can get them cheaper. Use them with skin or blanched. I use whole nonpareil almonds, which are easy to get and great if I want to remove the skins, but you can get fancy and buy Marcona or any other you prefer.

If making frangipane by hand, you need almond flour (usually finely ground) or almond meal (can be a little coarser). They can be labeled as flour (very finely ground) or meal (which can be a little coarser). But they're basically the same thing. Use it if you want a smoother almond cream.

Mixture: I like it to be rustic or coarse because I like the almond crunch. But you can process it more, especially the first part with the sugar, to achieve a smoother frangipane. Some recipes call for a teaspoon or two of corn syrup, or sometimes an extra egg yolk, to make it smoother and richer.

Flavorings: I add some pure almond extract, which is not part of the original recipe. The same goes for vanilla extract; a few drops might work for you, but I don't use it. You can also add some almond liquor, like Amaretto, to give it an almond flavor boost or rum to make it more punchy, depending on the use.

Storing: It keeps well for at least a week in the refrigerator in an airtight container or very well covered with plastic wrap. It can be frozen for a month. Defrost in the fridge.

Variations: I sometimes use ground walnuts or hazelnuts and make different nut creams. Most nuts work well as substitutes for almonds. Or make pistachio cream, which is all the rage now.

How to use frangipane

It must be consumed baked as it contains raw eggs. It puffs as it bakes, adding a creamy, wonderful layer of texture and flavor.

Fruit tarts (sometimes called frangipane tarts), is a traditional way of using it, with the most classic being the French pear tart, and second most popular the almond apple tart. Stone fruit like peaches, apricots, plums, nectarines and cherries are also excellent with a layer of frangipane, as almonds pair with most fruits.
Fruit galettes, which are also tarts but free-form, very rustic, like the fresh peach galette.
It's an exceptional filling for pastries like almond croissants, pithiviers (a puff pastry tart), danish braids, rolls, galette des Roi (an Easter puff pastry cake), and other yeasted bread such as babkas. Bakewell tart is another very famous recipe that calls for this almond cream.

Hand spreading almond cream on rectangular pie crust on a wire rack.

Ingredient Notes

Quantities are listed on the recipe card towards the end of this post. The Ingredients page has more details and lists the brands we use.

Ingredients for almond cream in bowls on a white surface including butter, sugar, egg, flavorings.

Spreading almond cream on a half croissant on a wooden board with whole croissants. Light gray surface.

How to skin almonds video

Steps to make frangipane

Food processor: It's the perfect small appliance to make this almond cream. I'm not talking about immersion blenders, which can be used for certain recipes. You can buy a good food processor online or in the appliance section of department stores and some supermarkets.
By hand: I recently added this method because not everyone has (or wants to have) a food processor. It's explained in the recipe card towards the end of this post.

Coarsely ground almonds and sugar in the bowl of a food processor.

Almonds + sugar

Put whole almonds and sugar in the food processor bowl.

Pulse until coarsely grounded. You don't need to finely grind the almonds at this point, though you can.

Almond cream in the bowl of a food processor seen from the top.

Final mixture

After adding the butter and egg, the almond mixture is creamy but rustic, with bits of almond. It's spreadable but mounds well on a spoon.

Vintage Kitchen Tip

Frangipane can be smoother or coarser, depending on how the almonds are ground. Your food processor might not finely grind the almonds, so if you want the result to be creamier without larger pieces of nuts, use almond flour.

Close up of almond cream being scooped with a silver spoon from a purple bowl on a grey background.

Recipes with frangipane:

So, now that we have homemade almond cream, what do we use it for? As mentioned above, fruit tarts and pastry filling are the most common ways to use this recipe.

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Purple bowl with almond cream being lifted with a silver spoon. Grey and white surface and background.

Almond Cream Filling (frangipane recipe)

Author: Paula Montenegro

Click the stars to Rate this Recipe!

You won't believe how easy it is to make this recipe. It has only 5 ingredients and comes together in less than 15 minutes! You can flavor it and is a lovely recipe for French fruit tarts, pastries and desserts. Keep it refrigerated for a couple of weeks. Or freeze it.

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Prep Time 10

Total Time 10

Servings 2 cups

Course Basic recipes

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric

▢ 1 cup whole almonds, or almond flour, see notes below
▢ ⅔ cup sugar
▢ ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
▢ 1 egg, at room temperature
▢ 2 teaspoons flour
▢ ¼ teaspoon almond extract
▢ ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract, optional

Instructions

In the food processor:

Put 1 cup whole almonds and ⅔ cup sugar in the bowl of a food processor. Process until almonds are in coarse pieces.
Add ½ cup unsalted butter in pieces and 1 egg. Process until it all becomes a cream.
Add 2 teaspoons flour, ¼ teaspoon almond extract and/or ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract, if using, and process just to mix.

By hand (using almond flour):

Combine ⅔ cup sugar and 1 cup almond flour in a large mixing bowl.
Add soft ½ cup unsalted butter and 1 egg and whisk energetically until well integrated and creamy. Add 2 teaspoons flour, ¼ teaspoon almond extract and ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract if using, and mix until well combined.

For both options:

Transfer to an airtight container or bowl tightly covered with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for a few weeks or freeze for up to a month.

Notes

It must be baked due to the raw egg it contains. And it doesn't taste good in my opinion.

Food processor: it is essential for making frangipane if you start with whole almonds. This recipe doesn't yield a large amount, so a regular-sized one works well. If you want to double or triple the recipe, make sure your processor is large enough.

Almonds: use any type you like. They will be processed so you can use broken ones. Use them with skin or without (blanched, click for the video tutorial on how to skin almonds).

Mixture: I like it rustic or coarse because I like the almond crunch. But you can process it more, especially the first part with the sugar, to achieve a smoother frangipane. Some recipes call for a teaspoon or two of corn syrup, or sometimes an extra egg yolk, to make it smoother and richer.

Storing: it keeps well for at least a week in the refrigerator in an airtight container or very well covered with plastic wrap. It can be frozen for a month. Defrost in the refrigerator.

Cuisine French

Keyword almond cream, frangipane

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Comments

5 from 9 votes