Welcome! You’re At Isabelle’s—home to all things tasteful and tasty.

Let me start by saying I know figs are not in season. These were supposed to be rhubarb-and-frangipane bars, but finding rhubarb is HARD! Most grocery stores don’t carry it, and the farmers market is only open on Saturdays. Although my rhubarb dreams were crushed, all hope was not lost because these bars are incredibly flexible. My go-to fruit for them is actually a plum. But an out of season plum is mediocre at best. A fig though, is always pretty good— SO FIG IT WE ARE DOING FIGS!

These bars are my go-to baking recipe when I want to highlight whatever fruit is looking good. It is basically a frangipane tart, but baked in bar form. I used to always make frangipane galettes, and although I still love those, sweet tart dough is just easier than pie dough. It comes together quickly in a food processor and is almost cookie-like which I love. I use it as even base layer for the bars and I do not bring it up along the sides, which means no fussing with edges! The frangipane forms a surprisingly nice crust as it puffs up around the fruit.

If you get your hands on rhubarb and swap it for the figs, please let me know how it goes. I think strawberries could be great here too—really, any fruit that will break down slightly into something nice and jammy.

Recipe

Tart Dough

• 1 ¼ cups (155 g) all-purpose flour

• ½ cup (55 g) powdered sugar

• Pinch of salt

• ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes

• 1 large egg

• ½ tsp vanilla extract

Frangipane Filling

• 1 ½ sticks (172 g) unsalted butter, room temperature

• ¾ cup (172 g) granulated sugar

• 1 ½ cups (172 g) almond flour

• 4 large eggs, room temperature

• 1 Tbsp (8 g) all-purpose flour

• 1 Tbsp amaretto (optional)

• 1 Tbsp finely grated lemon zest

• ~12 ripe figs, halved (plums or rhubarb also work)

To serve (optional): thick plain yogurt or lightly sweetened whipped cream

Directions:

Tart Crust:

1. In a food processor, pulse flour, powdered sugar, and salt to combine.

2. Add the cubed butter; pulse until the mixture resembles coarse, pea-size bits.

3. Add the egg and vanilla; pulse just until the dough starts to clump.

4. Turn onto the counter, press into a disc, wrap, and chill at least 1 hour (up to a day).

5. Heat the oven to 375 °F. Roll the dough into a 9-inch square and place it into a greased, parchment-lined 9-inch square pan with overhang. You are making an even bottom layer of crust, it is not coming up along the sides of the pan.

6. Place a layer of foil over the tart dough, fill with pie weights or dried beans, and bake for 20 min.

7. Remove weights and foil; bake 10 min more, until lightly golden. Let cool before adding the filling.

Note: I would make the frangipane while the dough chills or while the crust bakes.

Frangipane:

1. Add the room temperature butter and sugar to an electric mixer, beat until fluffy (~3 minutes).

2. On low speed, alternate adding almond flour and eggs.

3. Mix in the flour, lemon zest, and amaretto just until combined.

Assemble and Bake:

1. Heat oven to 400 °F.

2. Spread the frangipane evenly in the cooled crust.

3. Arrange fig halves cut-side up, pressing them slightly into the batter.

4. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until the frangipane is set, has puffed up around the figs, and turned golden brown.

5. Let cool before removing and slicing into squares. Top with a dollop of plain thick yogurt (or whipped cream) and garnish with a sliced fig!

That’s all for now! See you next time At Isabelle’s.