Butterscotch Apple Frangipane Tart

As many of you are aware, I have become a cooking contest freak as of late. This foray into contesting actually started many years ago, when I first became a fan of The Pillsbury Bake-Off®. This mother of all cooking contests started back in 1949 and has been celebrating home cooks ever since. In fact, I’m pretty sure everyone has a favorite Bake-Off® recipe. Remember the Tunnel of Fudge Cake? Well, Ella Rita Helfrich won $5000 with that recipe back in 1966 and kicked off a Bundt Pan revolution. And, what about those Peanut Blossoms? You know—the peanut butter cookies with the chocolate kiss on top. Nearly everyone has those on their holiday cookie list. That recipe came from Freda Smith, Bake-Off® 1957. Oh, how I yearned to have a recipe selected for the Pillsbury Bake-Off®--especially since the grand prize is now a cool million dollars! Well, guess what? I am officially a finalist in the 44th Pillsbury Bake-Off® being held in Orlando, Florida in April 2010! Indeed, my Pecan Cookie Waffles with Honey-Cinnamon Butter is a contender for the million dollar prize! I am very honored and, since the details of this recipe are being held in strict confidence, I won’t share the recipe yet, but I will share the results of one of my other creations using the fabulous Pillsbury® Pie Crust---Butterscotch Apple Frangipane Tart.

I suffer from occasional insomnia. What do you do when you can't sleep at 3:30 in the morning?

Well, sometimes I pull out some ingredients and bake! Ha--I told you I was a freak. This time I put together a tart. Here is my recipe:

Butterscotch Apple Frangipane Tart

1 Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crust (from 15-oz box), softened as directed on box

¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
½ cup almond paste
¼ cup sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
½ teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup flour
2 large, tart baking apples (such as Granny Smith), peeled, cored and thinly sliced
½ cup butterscotch ice cream topping
½ teaspoon cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 ° F.

2. Place the butter and almond paste (break the paste into small pieces) and sugar in a large bowl; cream them together with a hand mixer until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, and continue to beat until light and creamy. Fold in the vanilla and the flour.

3. Fit the pie crust into a 9” tart pan with a removable bottom. Trim the excess dough. Spread the almond filling over the bottom of the crust, covering it completely. Arrange apples in concentric circles on top of the filling.

4. Mix the cinnamon into the butterscotch topping and spread the topping evenly over the top of the apples. Place the tart into the preheated oven and bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until the apples are golden and the filling is set. Cool to room temperature before serving. Serves 6-8.

Oh--you can check out the whole list of 100 Bake-Off® Finalists right here: 44th Pillsbury Bake-Off® Finalists