Almond Tart

This makes a change from the usual creamy, rich, chocolatey desserts.

It is good served for tea or anytime.

Equipment

A food processor if you have one

2 mixing bowls

Kitchen scale

Egg separator

Electric beater

A cup to put the eggs in

Cling film and wax paper

An oven

A grater

A sharp knife and chopping board

Baking beans or uncooked kidney beans or rice

A loose bottomed, fluted flan tin (that’s the one with the crinkly sides)

A cooling rack

A small bowl to put the almonds into

A kitchen scale

Ingredients

For the pastry

-         For the pastry you will need:-

-         350g plain flour

-         Pinch salt

-         225 grams cold unsalted butter.

-         100grams icing sugar

-         3 egg yolks

For the filling:-

-         350 grams softened unsalted butter

A tip to soften butter: Fill a glass jug with boiling water, leave it to stand for five minutes before pouring the water out; then enclose the butter in the steamed-up jug for a few minutes

-         350 grams castor sugar

-         350 grams ground almonds

-         4 eggs

For serving: Red currants, strawberries or seasonal fresh berries

Method

Clear a space on your kitchen counter and make sure it’s clean.

Gather all the ingredients and equipment.

As ever when working with food, ensure your hands are clean, but particularly so with this recipe as you will be using your fingers to mix the pastry, if you do not have a food processor.

-         Mix the flour, salt and butter by hand, or in a processor, till the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs

-         Add the sugar. Break the eggs one at a time and separate the yolks from the whites. Set aside the whites.

-         Put the egg yolks into the flour, mix in well with a spoon or process again with the food processor. Shape into a pastry ball.

-         Wrap pastry ball in clingfilm

-         Chill pastry for at least an hour

-         Pre-heat the oven to180 deg C.

-         Remove the pastry from the fridge and coarsely grate it.

-         Grease the flan tin with a little butter and greaseproof paper

-         Press the pastry into the prepared flan tin

-         Bake blind – which means bake to make a pastry shell for the filling to go in. To do this put greaseproof (wax) paper over the pastry at the bottom of the flan tin and weigh it down with plenty of dry uncooked kidney beans, rice or baking beans.

-         Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

-         Carefully remove from the oven (use oven gloves if you have them, or a tea towel to protect your hands)

-         Put onto a wire cooling rack

-         Reduce the oven to 150 degrees C.

For the filling:-

Put the butter and sugar into a bowl and cream together until light and fluffy.

Combine the butter mix, almonds and eggs, adding each egg one at a time.

Remove the paper and beans from the pastry case. Discard them

Pour the filling mixture into the pastry case and bake for 40 minutes.

Remove from the oven.

Turn the oven off

Let the tart cool and serve with the berries (wash berries under cold water before using)