Recipe of the week: apple frangipane

This is an easy, versatile recipe that packs in a lot of flavour, says Chris Leach.

It can be served warm or at room temperature, and can be made with whatever fruit is available: rhubarb, cherries and pears all work well.

Ingredients

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• 2 apples, peeled
• 65g butter
• 30g wholemeal flour
• 2g salt
• 65g ground almonds
• 100g caster sugar
• 5ml almond extract
• 90g egg whites, room temperature
• 30g flaked almonds

Method

• Peel and cut your apples into 1-2cm chunks. Turn the butter into brown butter by cooking it in a medium-hot pan until it becomes dark and nutty and smells like hazelnuts. This should take around 5 minutes. Once done, remove and leave to cool.
• In a large bowl, sift together the flour and salt. Add the ground almonds and sugar. In another bowl, whisk the almond extract into the egg whites just until frothy.
• Add the dry ingredients to the egg-white mixture and gently whisk until combined. While the butter is still pourable, run it into the batter and gently whisk just until the butter is incorporated.
• Pour the batter into a 9in cake tin, lined with parchment/greaseproof, press in the apple and sprinkle with flaked almonds. Bake at 165°C for 20-25 minutes.
• Serve with custard or ice cream.

Chris Leach is head chef of Manteca, 49-51 Curtain Road, London EC2 (mantecarestaurant.co.uk).