Blueberry Almond Tart

This is my blueberry almond tart. It has a tender pâte sablée crust, and it’s filled with almond cream and scattered with juicy blueberries that sink just slightly into the filling as it bakes. The whole thing comes together looking rustically beautiful.

A few weeks ago, my two boys and I went blueberry picking and we came home with way more than we could eat fresh, so the freezer is now very well stocked. That felt like the perfect excuse to make this tart. It’s a very simple one but with great flavour and texture. The almond filling puffs up golden and soft, almost like almond cake but much denser and richer in a really good way, while the blueberries give these gorgeous little pops of juicy sweetness throughout.

Fresh blueberries are my first choice for this tart, but if I'm using frozen, I like using home-picked ones. It’s because I take my time freezing them nice and carefully so the berries stay intact. First, on a tray in a single layer so they don’t stick, and then once they’re frozen solid they go into a freezer bag. Shop-bought frozen ones work totally fine too, but the packaging of them might be done a bit less gently, so a lot of the time their berries have leaked their juices, and that can give the batter a funny colour. Giving them a quick rinse under cold water before using helps a lot with that though. And either way, the tart will taste just as good!

The great thing about this tart is that you can swap the blueberries for other fruits like raspberries, blackberries, sliced peaches, apricots, or cherries. If you’re in winter you could do thin slices of apples, pears or maybe some poached quince. Quite a few fruits go well with almond and a buttery base!

If you haven’t made pâte sablée before, it’s a French tart dough that’s more delicate and crumbly than standard pie crust. When you combine it with an almond filling, the whole thing just melts in your mouth together. It does need to be par-baked before you add the filling, otherwise the base can go soggy under the almond cream. But there’s no need to line the crust with baking paper and fill it with pie weights. It can go in the oven as is, just docked with a fork. This initial par-bake is at a lower oven temperature which lets the butter melt gently rather than creating steam that puffs the base up. You want the shell set and lightly golden but not fully baked through, because it goes back in the oven again with the filling.

You will have some leftover pâte sablée dough after trimming it, but don’t throw it away! You can re-roll the scraps and cut them into cookies, or press them into mini tart shells for another day. It freezes well too.

A side note - you might know the almond cream I’m using as frangipane, but in French pâtisserie, what we call frangipane is actually crème d’amande, just butter, sugar, eggs, and ground almonds. True frangipane in France is crème d’amande mixed with crème pâtissière (pastry cream). On the blog version of this recipe, I still call it frangipane, though, because it’s the term people search for more. But for Substack I’ve gone with almond cream.

For the full recipe with step-by-step photos, head to the blog version on Baking with Butter.

Pâte Sablée

• 205 g (1 2/3 cups) all-purpose flour

• 80 g (2/3 cup) powdered sugar

• 15 g (2.5 tbsp) almond flour/ground almonds

• ¼ tsp salt

• 113 g (½ cup) unsalted butter, cubed and cold

• 1 large egg, lightly whisked

Almond cream

• 113 g (½ cup) unsalted butter, softened

• 150 g (¾ cup) granulated sugar

• 3 large eggs

• 150 g (1½ cups) almond flour/ground almonds

• 1 tsp almond extract

• ½ tsp vanilla paste or extract

• ½ tsp salt

Topping

• 150–200 g (1–1 1/3 cups) blueberries, fresh or frozen (do not thaw if frozen)

• Powdered sugar, for dusting

Pâte sablée

1. Whisk together the flour, powdered sugar, almond flour, and salt. Rub in the cold butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine sand.

2. Mix in the egg until the dough just comes together. Push the dough forward with the heel of your hand to smooth it out. Shape into a disc, wrap, and chill for at least 60 minutes.

3. Roll the dough out to about 3-4 mm thick and fit it into a 23-25 cm (9-10 inch) tart pan with a removable bottom. Trim the edges and dock the base with a fork. Chill for at least 30 minutes.

4. Preheat your oven to 160°C (320°F). Par-bake the tart shell for around 20 minutes until set and just very lightly golden at the edges but pale on the base. Remove and let cool for 5-10 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 180°C (350°F).

Almond cream

5. In a large bowl, beat together the softened butter and sugar until smooth and combined. You’re not trying to cream it until fluffy here, just get it to a smooth mixture.

6. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

7. Mix in the almond flour, almond extract, vanilla, and salt until you have a thick, cohesive batter.

Assemble and bake

8. Spread the almond cream evenly into the cooled par-baked tart shell. Scatter the blueberries over the top, distributing them evenly, and press them in very gently so they sit partially in the filling.

8. Bake for around 40-50 minutes until the filling is puffed, golden brown, and set in the centre. A toothpick inserted in the middle should come out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.

9. The timing can vary depending on your oven and how cold your filling was or if you used frozen berries, so use the visual cues as your guide. If the edges of the crust are browning too much before the centre is set, loosely cover just the edges with strips of foil, leaving the middle exposed so it can keep cooking.

10. Let the tart cool completely in the pan before removing and slicing. The filling will firm up as it cools. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Happy baking!