[Sca-cooks] Accidentally stumbling over frangipane...

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Hullo, the list!

While rummaging through the fridge this evening and assembling a menu 
out of the various disparate elements (looking like grilled thin 
round steaks rubbed with crushed garlic and lime juice, white rice 
and black beans, and a salad), I ran across a sizeable lump of 
marzipan. I ended up making a marzipan custard tart, which, in 
retrospect, seems fairly similar to late-or-early-post-period 
frangipane cream.

I used (as best as I can recall, with very much estimated measurements):

1 1/2 cups AP flour
3 oz unsalted butter
1/4 tsp salt
appr 1/2 cup water, just enough to bind the pastry


appr 1 lb (actually, about 2 cups) marzipan
3 large eggs
appr 1 cup milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon

I just mashed the pastry ingredients together with a fork and worked 
it into a ball, then just patted it into a 9-inch Pyrex pie dish, 
chilled it for about 20 minutes, crimped the edge with my fingers, 
and added the filling (which was essentially the marzipan worked 
together with the eggs until it was soft enough to stir, then the 
milk and cinnamon added and whipped smooth, like a thick custard 
mixture). I think it baked in about 35 minutes at 375*F, till golden 
and puffy.

Very, very rich. Probably the thing to do is eat it in thin slices 
with whipped cream or ice cream. Consistency somewhere in between 
marzipan and custard, a little like pumpkin pie.

Anyway, I recalled that frangipane (an early form of pastry cream, 
probably originating in the 17th century), is, today, at least, made 
more or less with the same ingredients as pastry cream, plus ground 
almonds. Essentially, a starch-thickened custard using ground almonds 
as the thickener/stabilizer instead of flour or other starch. Early 
versions, though, are somewhat different, although still almond-based.

Unfortunately, I can't find a period frangipane recipe. I think 
there's one in La Varenne or one of the other late French sources. 
Can anybody recall seeing such a thing?

Many thanks for any info!

Adamantius