What can’t frangipane do? This spreadable gold — made by simply stirring together softened butter, egg, almond flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, and almond extract — adds a nutty, aromatic layer of sweetness to everything it touches. Frangipane is what makes an almond croissant an almond croissant, but you can also swirl it into these easy raspberry jam bars or slather it on a piece of brioche and top it with berries for this elegant version of bostock. But while almond is the most classic version of frangipane, it’s hardly the only one; lots of spectacular variations exist.
You can swap out the almond flour for a different type of nut (which can be easily pulsed in a food processor to make meal) — think hazelnuts, walnuts, pistachios — and omit the almond extract. Vanilla extract can be used in place of almond; rose water is especially fitting with pistachio. At New York’s Librae Bakery, this particular combination is one of their most popular croissant offerings.
Cookbook author Nicola Lamb is a fan of using toasted hazelnuts, but she also boosts her frangipane with other creative flavors spins, like adding brown butter in place of softened butter or a dollop of miso and chopped white chocolate for a salty-sweet umami hit.
Similarly, you can swap out nuts for sesame seeds for a more unexpected, savory twist. Black sesame seeds offer a striking visual, as seen in Rachel Lo of @rachel_loaf’s recipe where she pairs black sesame frangipane with juicy loquats in a tart that she refers to as a “grown up version of a dirt cup,” or Paige Nickless of @fremecraiche’s version with passionfruit coconut curd swaddled in puff pastry. You can even use wheat bran in what celebrated Maine bakery Night Moves charmingly calls "brangipane".
And some bakers are ditching the nuts entirely and pushing the boundaries of what frangipane can be. In Hailee Catalano's latest cookbook By Heart, her Blueberry Pretzel Galette with Cream Cheese Whip is made with “pretzel-pane,” which uses crushed-up pretzels to mimic the texture of almond flour. Spread across the bottom of the galette crust, this clever riff on frangipane imparts a sweet-salty bite that’s a nostalgic ode to Midwestern strawberry pretzel salad.
You can also give your frangipane a fruity twist, as seen in our Frangipane and Fruit-Filled Wool Rolls, by mixing in orange zest, orange blossom water, cardamom, and orange jammy bits. Or, add a few spoonfuls of raspberry preserves, raspberry jammy bits, and orange zest.
Taking inspiration from these pandan-almond croissants from San Francisco bakery Hanabi, I recently riffed on our basic frangipane recipe and simply swapped out the almond extract for pandan extract to impart a grassy tropical flavor and brilliant green hue. I left the lamination work to the pros and picked up half a dozen croissants from my local bakery, cut them in half, slathered them with pandan frangipane, and baked them. While I’ve never tried Hanabi’s version, my homespun version was even better than I imagined, and proved that frangipane can really be whatever you want it to be. So go nuts! (Or not…)
Cover photo (Raspberry Frangipane Bars) by Patrick Marinello; food styling by Yekaterina Boytsova.
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