Frangipane Cream (French Almond Cream)
A rich and flavorful almond filling for fruit tarts and pastries. Ready in five minutes.
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Almond cream, or frangipane cream, is a French pastry essential. With just 4 basic ingredients and 5 minutes of stirring, you get a delicious cream that adds a rich layer of flavor to tarts, croissants, or other pastries.

Recipe at a Glance
To make a basic frangipane cream, you only need four ingredients: eggs, butter, sugar, and almond flour, in equal weights. You simply add each ingredient to a bowl, one at a time, stirring in between, and within minutes, you’ve got a cream ready to spread into your pastries.
Almond cream is perhaps best known as the base for frangipane tarts, and there are many varieties: apple, pear, fig, cherry, raspberry, plum, citrus, or even chocolate. And those are just the popular ones.
In other words, it’s a super versatile cream that comes together in minutes. Once you’ve tried it, you’ll wonder how you ever baked without it.
Making frangipane cream for the first time? Check out the ingredient notes, step-by-step instructions, and tips. If you’re already familiar with it, go ahead and jump to the recipe card.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutes

- Butter. Regular unsalted butter works perfectly.
- Almond flour. Super finely ground almonds aren’t necessary – we’re not making macarons here. Your favorite brand will do. You can even blend blanched and slivered almonds yourself.
- Eggs.
- Sugar. Powdered sugar is ideal, but granulated sugar will work just fine.
How to Make Frangipane Cream Video
How to Make Frangipane Cream
- Cream butter and sugar. Whisk together room-temperature butter and sugar until smooth.
- Whisk the butter and
- sugar until smooth
- Stir in almond flour. Add the almond flour and whisk until incorporated. You will end up with a fairly dense paste.
- Add almond flour and
- whisk until combined
- Add the egg. Stir in the egg until the mixture becomes soft and spreadable.
- Add the egg and stir until
- it reaches this consistency
- Use or refrigerate. Spread the cream immediately, or cover and refrigerate if not using right away.

Tips
Keep these in mind when making almond cream:
- Use a scale. For the best results, measure the ingredients by weight. A few grams off won’t ruin it, but if you’re scaling the recipe, accuracy helps.
- Chill before piping. If you plan to pipe the frangipane, chill it for about an hour to firm it up for better control.

- Use a mixer. If making a large batch, a hand or stand mixer will make the process quicker.
- Adjust the order. While I usually add the almond flour before the egg, reversing that order might make things easier, especially with larger amounts or a hand whisk.

Storage
Frangipane cream can be stored in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. Just make sure to seal it tightly so it doesn’t absorb any odors.

Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter 56g
- 2 oz sugar 56g
- 2 oz almond flour 56g
- 1 large egg about 56g after cracking
Instructions
- Cream butter and sugar: Whisk together room temperature butter and sugar until smooth.4 tbsp unsalted butter, 2 oz sugar
- Stir in almond flour: Add almond flour and whisk until combined.2 oz almond flour
- Add egg: Stir in the egg until the cream is soft and spreadable.1 large egg
- Use or refrigerate: Use immediately or cover and refrigerate for later use.