The quintessential French apple tart is flaky, soft, tender, and full of flavor. I love each bite.
In France, we have a love relationship with apple tart—plain-cut apples with a hint of sugar and butter baked to perfection.

Or, Tarte de Pommes a la Normande has a velvety custard made of eggs and heavy cream with sugar.
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And here is another version with hazelnut frangipane on a flaky pastry. Fresh roasted hazelnuts, then ground into fine pieces with sugar, butter, and egg. And I must say it is beautiful.
Do not be concerned if the bottom on the sides gets a bit burnt. That is a normal process of the juices of the apple and the frangipane.
However, do create a pattern with your apples. Here, I have two rows going in one direction and one in the opposite. Be creative and put your flair into this apple tart.
In this Article
- Subscribe to Giangi's Kitchen!
- What is Frangipane?
- What is a Tart?
- Cooking tips and step-by-step instructions to create this excellent Apple Tart with Hazelnut Frangipane
- What to serve with this apple tart?
- Can I use another type of apple?
- Want more delicious dessert recipes?
- Apple Tart with Hazelnut Frangipane
What is Frangipane?
Essentially, frangipane is an almond filling, almost like a thick cream. Not to be confused with marzipan, an almonds sugar paste that is so dense and used to decorate cakes.
Frangipane is a mixture of butter, eggs, ground almonds, and sugar. Not as attractive in color, but super savory with all your baking tarts.
With this recipe, we will use hazelnuts, which give your apple tart a more nutty, rich flavor.
There are so many wonderful recipes you can make with puff pastry and this easy apple strudel is one of them.

What is a Tart?
A tart can be a savory or a sweet baked dish with a pastry on the bottom, filled with either fruit or sometimes with an egg custard.
Usually presented on a round form with an open top.
Sometimes you will see them referred to as “Tartalette”. It is the same, however, more diminutive in size or as an individual serving.
Always make it short-walled.
Cooking tips and step-by-step instructions to create this excellent Apple Tart with Hazelnut Frangipane
Some recipe tips and notes to help you along:
- Remove as much of the outer thin brown shell of the hazelnuts as possible before placing them in the food processor. You can achieve this by rolling the hazelnuts back and forth n between a paper or cloth towel. Repeat when removed from the oven.
- Sweet and unsweetened butter are interchangeable if you do not have sweet butter on hand.
- When you place the peeled and cut apples in a bowl while finishing up all the other ingredients, you may want to squeeze a small amount of lemon over it so they will not turn brown on you.
- I use parchment paper over your cookie sheet. Silpat, It will work beautifully as well here. With the parchment, you can leave it on it and present it to your guests.
- Spread the frangipane cream with a pastry knife, leaving a border so the pastry can puff well and keep the apples in place.
- Arrange the apples in a pretty pattern.
- You can do an egg wash for the crust to give it that beautiful glazed look. Optional, as we will be using the Calvados at the end.
- Cool on a wire rack. The rack will allow the tart to cool off uniformly and faster as air circulates underneath.
- The Calvados and orange marmalade mix is so delicious over it. It binds all the flavors together and gives it that beautiful glazed shiny look.
- Do serve it at room temperature. The hazelnut frangipane, when hot, can scold you when not cooled off.

What to serve with this apple tart?
Vanilla ice cream is always the favorite, of course. Whipping cream or Chantilly is just as delicious.
Have tea or coffee for an afternoon snack.
With a small glass of Brandy or Cognac sitting by the fire! Make it a romantic evening with your loved one.
Slice it into squares. Easy to handle. Remember, it is a flaky pastry; therefore, you must serve it on a plate.
Can I use another type of apple?
Jonagold and Braeburn are the perfect amounts of sweetness and keep their texture well when baked.
Honeycrisp and Cortland are other wonderful apples you can use with this tart.
Unfortunately, Red Delicious is not the favorite of baking, as they fade in taste and, when baked, will not hold the shape, and your tart will fall apart.
A great holiday dessert, light and full of flavor.

Want more delicious dessert recipes?
Check these out:
Equipment and ingredients used to prepare this apple tart with hazelnut frangipane
I have four and use them all the time. The BEST!
Apple Tart with Hazelnut Frangipane

Ingredients
FOR THE FRANGIPANE
FOR THE TART
- 1 puff pastry, Pepperidge Farm
- 4 gala apples, peeled, cores removed, and sliced in ½ inch thickness
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons sweet butter
- 1 cup orange marmalade, or jam
- 2 tablespoons Calvados
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F
- Place the hazelnuts on a cookie sheet and roast in the hot oven for 7 to 8 minutes. Transfer the nuts to a food processor, add the ¼ cup sugar, egg, butter, and vanilla extract. Process until creamy paste forms.
- Roll out the puff pastry to 15 inches long by 10 inches wide. Transfer it to a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Spread the frangipane on the dough stopping about 1 ½ inch away from the edges.
- Arrange the apple slices over the frangipane on an overlapping pattern to cover well the frangipane underneath. Fold the edge of the dough over the apples to make a 1 to 1 ½ inch border.
- Sprinkle 2 to 3 tablespoons sugar over the apples letting some of the sugar sprinkled over the border dough. Break the 2 tablespoons of sweet butter and scatter them over the apples. Bake for 1 hour the dough should be nicely crystallized all over.
- Remove the finished tart from the oven and cool on a wire rack until still a bit warm to the touch. Mix together the orange marmalade with the Calvados and glaze the surface of the tart spreading it carefully on the apples and the border crust. Use the back of the spoon to easily spread.
- Serve at room temperature cut into small wedges. Serve with whipping cream or ice cream.
Nutrition
Giangi’s Kitchen provides nutritional information, but these figures should be considered estimates, as a registered dietician does not calculate them.
Did you make this?
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Cindy Mom, the Lunch Lady
Such a beautiful tart! I am totally intrigued by the frangipane. It sounds lovely paired with the apples.
Mihaela | https://theworldisanoyster.com/
I just love to learn the history or the provenance of a recipe, especially if it is a dessert! This one seems easy to make, but it looks spectacular! It must taste the same, I’m sure:)
Giangi Townsend
Mihaela, it is so good. Gone before you can say Boo. Yes, quite easy to make and tastes so good.
I hope you will make it.
Enjoy!
Jeri
This apple tart looks absolutely delicious! I will be making this for dessert at my holiday get-together. Thanks for the recipe!
Giangi Townsend
The pleasure is all mine. I am sure you will enjoy it.
Enjoy!
Jeannie
So decadent! I love Apples and this is a perfect dessert to share with everyone. Looking forward making this recipe.
Giangi Townsend
A bit decadent with a lot of flavor. I am sure you will enjoy it.
Thank you for taking the time to stopping by Giangi’s Kitchen.
Linda
I’ve never had frangipane, but know it well enough from British Bake Off. Figured it would be some crazy hard thing to make, but it’s not! And, I love that you used hazelnuts (my fave!), but I’ll still have to try it with almonds sometime. Delish!!!
Giangi Townsend
You cannot go wrong with either. I happened to love hazelnuts and always get them when I see them at the store. Did you participate in the British Bake Off? How fantastic is that! Want to hear more.
Thank you for stopping by Giangi’s Kitchen!
Meryl
Yum! This was delicious! So perfect as a simple dessert!
Giangi Townsend
Thank you and so happy you enjoy it. Love that you can make individual portions too.
Thank you for stopping by Giangi’s Kitchen.
Shilpa
This looks incredibly delicious. I can’t wait to try it
Giangi Townsend
You will love it! Very easy to make.
Enjoy it!
Jere Cassidy
Making this for Thanksgiving instead of pie this year. Your recipe is easy to follow and I can’t wait to try it.
Giangi Townsend
Thank you, Jere! You will enjoy it and so easy to make.
Bon Appetit!
Dawn Conklin
The flavors come together so perfectly here. I never heard of frangipane before, but it was easy to make and so delicious. This is perfect for a nice fall treat!
Giangi Townsend
Thank you so much, Dawn! I do as well love how easy it is to make the frangipane, which I have not stopped making since.
Happy Holidays!
Rosanna
This is such a great dessert to make at dinner parties as it’s so pretty – all my guests went ooooooh where I brought it out! Delicious too, loved the flavours. Thanks so much for the recipe!
Giangi Townsend
The pleasure is all mine, Rosanna!. Thank you for making it and love you for sharing your feedback.
Happy Holidays!
Emily Flint
I be can’t wait to make this with hazelnuts! I’ve only had almond before and now all I want is hazelnut. What a great idea!
Giangi Townsend
Thank you! I found the hazelnuts to be a bit nuttier in flavor, which I do love.
Enjou!
Sue
This looks entirely delightful!!
Giangi Townsend
Thank you! It sure was.
HealthyHeartyWholesome
This looks so yummy I can’t wait to try it!
Giangi Townsend
Thank you! I am sure you and your family will enjoy it.
Bon Appetit!