Not the flowering shrub of similar name but an almond paste that is used to make small cakes and tarts. It is the filling for England's famous Bakewell Tart. Why is it a basic recipe? Because it uses the creaming method and is an unusual liaison for butter, eggs and binding agent in that the 'flour' is mainly ground almonds. It's a great demonstration of how versatile the overall idea is, and how easily things can be substituted in cooking to great effect.
Change the ground almonds to self-raising flour and you have a basic sponge recipe.
Ingredients
100g (4oz) butter
100g (4oz) castor (superfine) sugar
100g (4oz) ground almonds (almond meal)
10g (half oz) flour
2 beaten eggs
Method
Cream the butter and sugar together. This means to work the butter with a wooden spoon until it softens and absorbs the sugar. It's ready when what you have is a white cream that is smooth if rubbed between finger and thumb.
You can also use an electric mixer.
Next beat in the eggs, a little at a time, so that you have a smooth paste.
Sift the flour and ground almonds together and stir into the paste, mixing lightly. It's ready to use.
So now what do you do with it?
Try this as a first attempt. Buy one of those sweet crust pastry cases and, while it is still frozen, spread the base with apricot jam (jelly). Pour the paste on top and bake this in the oven at 200°C/400°F for 30-40 minutes until the frangipane is set and lightly browned on top.
Serve dusted with icing sugar and a little whipped cream or cinnamon ice cream. It can be eaten warm or cold.
