Chez Panisse almond tart, and how even the best recipes evolve

The Chez Panisse almond tart has a loyal following to this day, almost forty years after it was first developed by pastry chef Lindsey Shere for the Berkeley restaurant that started the American food revolution. Sophisticated and delicious, this tart is still perfect when you want something nutty and caramelised to end a meal on a high, without it being overly sweet or cloying. It’s a special treat, but not a gooey extravaganza. It has a rich and surprisingly complex flavour: roasted almonds, of course, well coated in a delicious caramel of cooked cream and the right amount of sugar (and a perfectly judged pinch of salt), with the addition of Kirsch and Grand Marnier elevating it to a masterpiece. Its fragrance of toasted almonds and caramel raises expectations as much as its glossy golden-brown elegance.

Its texture is a key attraction, too. The almonds have just the right amount of softness, crispness and chew, nothing stick-to-the-teeth about them; and the buttery pastry — flavoured with almond and vanilla — is rolled thinly enough to be a discreet partner to the filling. It’s not one of those tarts where you leave behind an over-thick crust to focus on the filling. The caramelised almond and pastry in this tart work as a team.

I adore this tart for a dinner party or buffet. It’s one of those recipes that combines exceptional taste with practicality. It requires some effort, yes, but can be done ahead and needs no refrigeration and no accompaniment when served. It’s perfect as it is, with a liqueur or coffee to follow. (If you are doing a multi-course meal that includes cheese before the sweet, in true French fashion, it would also work well — and one almond tart could serve ten people in this case instead of the eight it serves when it’s the sole dessert.)

It requires four separate steps, all of which can be tackled in advance, with nothing left to do on the day except bring it to the table. The sequence is this: 1) make the pastry up to two days ahead, or even further in advance and freeze it. 2) Roll it out, rest it in the tart tin, and then pre-bake it — you can also do this step a day or two ahead. 3) When ready to proceed, cook the cream filling and 4) pour it into the prepared pastry shell to finish baking and caramelising in the oven — this final step sacrifices nothing if done the day before.

I have taught this tart in pastry classes, I’ve sold them to fans at markets, and I’ve made them for friends and family over the years, and it is always a stunner. The reason I want to share it with you kind readers of this blog is not only because it’s so worth sharing if you don’t know it, but because there are two versions of the recipe published in the Chez Panisse collection of cookbooks. I thought it worth recording my observations on the differences, as people may wonder which recipe to follow or whether it matters.

I find it interesting to know that even the most celebrated and particular professional chefs sometimes make changes to their recipes, and that there is more than one way to get to same place. Following a recipe always requires us to make judgments about what ‘done’ means, or ‘ thick and silky’, or ‘golden brown’, or whatever it may be. A clear and well-tested recipe provides the essential roadmap, but the equipment we use varies and changes, as do ingredients and our own tastes, and we end up making recipes our own when we cook them. This celebrated tart from a celebrated kitchen is a good example of how even the most enduring recipes are always evolving.

It was first published in 1982 as ‘Lindsey’s Almond Tart’ in Alice Waters’s Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook; and then in 1985, with some alterations, in Shere’s Chez Panisse Desserts. Both recipes produce an excellent tart, as you would expect; but on the whole, the amendments in the latter are improvements for the home cook, not least because the instructions are more detailed. After making dozens of them, and teaching others to make it, I’ve settled on a combination of the two recipes, however, in my adaptation: Skip to recipe

The main differences I’ve found between the two Chez Panisse recipes is in the time required to cook the tart, and the nuances of balancing the pre-baking of the pastry shell with the time in the oven required to caramelise the filling. If you overdo the blind-baking of the empty shell, the crust can over-brown before the almonds have caramelised. Too little pre-baking of the shell and you can end up with undercooked pastry that would also spoil the tart.

For any seasoned or aspiring pastry geeks interested in a technical comparison of the two original recipes, and why I do what I do when making this tart, here’s the detail, below.

The original recipe calls for pre-baking the shell at the higher temperature of 400F (200C) for ‘ten minutes, until it begins to set and brown’. Shere’s amendment advises 375F (175C) ‘until fully baked’. I prefer the lower temperature for pre-baking the pastry, as the edges can over-brown before the bottom sets — so one point to Shere’s revised recipe. However, I also prefer to pre-bake the shell only until the bottom is set and the whole shell takes on a light golden colour — not until fully baked, as in my experience the pastry does continue to brown during the 30 minutes or so it’s in the oven with the filling, while Shere says it doesn’t. She is right that it’s not in long enough to cook much more, so the base must be completely cooked through before the filling goes in, but it’s a question of colour. I’ve found that it can get too dark if I take her literally. To me, ‘fully baked’ would be the darker brown I’m looking for by the end.

With regard to the filling: the original 1982 recipe cooks the sliced almonds with the cream from the start, for the full 15 minutes or so, which can make the nuts both softer and more prone to breaking. Shere’s later recipe sensibly adds the almonds at the end, and has them sit for 15 minutes to absorb the moisture and flavour of the cream while the filling cools enough to go into the empty shell: another point to the revised recipe.

The later recipe calls for less cream for the filling: three-quarters of a cup (180 ml) to the original one full cup (240ml); the sugar remains the same in both at three-quarters of a cup (150g). This fluid adjustment makes the filling reduce a little quicker on the stove-top before it goes into the pastry, and also means there is less chance the filling will overflow if individual cooks don’t reduce it enough. Recipes have to work for cooks who do things quite differently, and sometimes such considerations can make for a more reliable recipe for more people. I’ve tried both and personally prefer the caramel filling to be that slight bit creamier with the original amount, but also appreciate saving a bit of time (and calories), so I suggest a compromise between the two measures with the proviso that care is still needed to reduce it enough on the stove-top. If you do use a full cup (240ml) of cream as called for in the original recipe and don’t reduce it enough, you’ll end up spending extra time once the tart goes into the oven getting the filling to caramelise. There is more risk of the pastry over-browning in the process, or of the filling boiling over the edges and making the tart harder to remove from the tart tin.

The final baking temperature and timings are the last two differences between the two recipes. The original Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook recipe calls for the final bake with the filling to be done at 350F (180C) for 25-30 minutes, which I’ve found to be an underestimate of the time needed in my oven (I’ve had it take closer to 40-45 minutes at that temperature). Shere’s revised recipe calls for baking at 400F (200C) for 30-35 minutes, which I find more realistic, especially considering that one has to open the oven a few times to rotate the tart for even browning — but it is a little fierce for some ovens. After working with several people who have made this recipe in my cooking classes, I’ve suggested a minor compromise with 375F (190C), for 30-40 minutes.

It’s useful to know you can work at a higher temperature as it saves time, but there is also something to be said for baking at a lower temperature if you have a temperamental oven that doesn’t circulate evenly, which many don’t, or if you are a cook who sometimes gets distracted by multi-tasking (voice of experience speaking here). This tart does require watching and turning for the last 20 minutes or so, and it’s wise to watch it even more carefully if you use the higher temperature, as it can quickly over-brown in patches, producing a less uniform finish.

Adjust the temperature to where you feel most in control and simply allow more or less time as required. Watch carefully, and turn as needed, and you’ll know it’s done when it has a uniform golden brown finish that looks like something you’d like to eat. It’s a question of adapting to your own level of patience, your taste, and your own oven.

Saying all this, it’s a straightforward process whichever recipe you use, especially if you break it down into its component steps — and the results are so worth the effort.

Chez Panisse almond tart, and how even the best recipes evolve - Crumbs on the Table (2024)

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