Sylvie's plum frangipane gratin

I didn't think too much when I saw the plum frangipane gratin in gourmande in the kitchen.. except that it had very few ingredients, looked easy and made to sound delicious by sylvie! I was already sold.. at "frangipane", btw ^^.. whatever that means! (^^)

And perhaps, melted butter too.. ^^ Just so you know.. I've  fallen TOTALLY in love with browned butter ^^!!! (thanks a million! lynna ^^) So I've been looking for every excuse to make brown butter.. again ^^! They are earth shattering AWWWESOME! love! love! love!

So it didn't even occur to me there is no flour nor any sugar in this recipe.. In fact, I was totally oblivious till half way through the recipe ^^|| Talk about blurrrrr..... or selective attention/distraction! (^^)

Plum frangipane gratin (adapted from gourmandeinthekitchen)

6 sweet plums, sliced (I peeled off the skins ~ fear of pesticides.. I really shouldn't have ^^||)
100g melted unsalted butter (I HAD to use browned butter ^^)
1 egg, beaten
4 1/2 tbsp honey
100g almond meal, sifted if possible ( I used 75g almond + 25g hazelnut meal.. I just like it that way ^^)
a pinch of salt
28g/ 1/4 cup sliced almonds (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350F/175C.

2. Melt butter over medium heat. (Or make brown butter ^^!). Leave to cool.

3. Beat honey with egg.

4. Add melted butter (or browned butter) to egg mixture and mix till well combined.

5. Add almond meal and a pinch of salt to batter. Mix till well incorporated.

6. Arrange sliced plums in concentric circles (.. or however you wish ^^) in greased ramekin/mould/s. Cover with batter and top with some sliced almonds, if you like ^^.

7. Bake for 20 minutes or till the sides turn golden.

This gratin can be served warm or cold. I prefer it cold ^^. Head over to gourmandeinthekitchen for beautiful pictures and recipe ^^

So do I like it? Hmmm... it's nice.. and grainy.. and interesting and different from the usual desserts I make.. and it's DEFINITELY wholesome and healthy ^^! I do however feel I didn't do justice to the recipe as the plums used may not be perfectly ripe ^^|| But what do I know about plums? It's probably just me over-analyzing.. again ^^||! A friend's 10 year-old daughter actually preferred this dessert over my current most-awesome numero uno cupcake, double caramel cupcake (??!!!) And big pig likes it too ^^ So there you go! (^^)

Though I prefer my fruits whole and fresh, the texture of baked plums is really nice ^^ For an easy, wholesome, healthy, gluten-free and processed sugar-free dessert, look no further! (^^)

p.s i do know now, that the "beautiful" frangipane refers to filling made from or flavored with almonds.. these days, it's a filling made of butter, sugar, egg and ground almonds ^^ aaah.. the things one learns from the blogosphere ^^ thank you, thank you, thank you! dearest generous bloggers! (^^)