Cherry Bakewell

This recipe is based on Lorraine Pascale's Bakewell tart. I have changed a few elements, such as adding almond extract for extra almond flavour and switching strawberry jam for cherry. This is really delicious, give it a go!

Equipment:

Loose bottomed tart ring

Ingredients:

Ready Made shortcrust pastry

200g Butter, softened

200g Caster sugar

2 Eggs

2 Tbsp Amaretto

1/2 Tsp Almond extract

40g Plain Flour

200g ground almonds

Flaked Almonds

1 jar good quality sour cherry curd or cherry conserve

Method:

First, prepare the pastry....

• Preheat the oven to 180°C

• Grease the tart tin with butter or vegetable oil

• Roll out your pastry to just under the thickness of a £1 coin. Lower the pastry into the tart ring and push into the sides using a spare piece of pastry. Roll the rolling pin over the dish to cut off the excess pastry (save this for cheese straws)

• Scrunch up a piece of baking paper (make sure it's bigger than the tart case) and use to cover the pastry. Pour in some baking beans

• 'Blind bake' for 15-20 mins

• Remove the baking beans and paper. Prick the bottom of the pastry with a fork. Bake for a further 4 minutes, until the pastry is golden

• Once cooked, remove from oven and set aside to cool

The pastry will have shrunk quite a bit, but don't worry that's what you want!

Now, make the Frangipane...

• Put the butter and sugar in a large bowl and cream together until light and fluffy

• Gradually add the eggs, Amaretto and almond extract

• Carefully fold in the flour and ground almonds

Assembly...

• Spread a generous amount of cherry jam over the base of the pastry case (1/2-3/4 of the jar).

• Dollop half of the Frangipane on top and spread around. Spread some more cherry jam on top of the frangipane. Dollop the rest of the frangipane on top and spread to the edge of the tart tin (it should cover the pastry)

• Smooth over with a palette knife

• Sprinkle over some flaked almonds

• Bake for 35-40 minutes in the pre-heated oven. If the tart has browned a lot but looks quite wobbly, cover it with some tin foil, turn the oven off and leave the tart in the oven for a while

• Remove from oven and leave to cool (the mixture will become more dense once it has cooled)

• Remove from tin and serve!

The tart is usually better the next day once it has cooled and the flavours have had time to develop

Cheese Straws:

If you have any excess pastry, you can use it to make cheese straws. Just twist strips of pastry and brush them with an egg wash. Sprinkle generously with grated cheese (Parmesan or Cheddar works) and sesame seeds. Season with S+P. Bake for about 15 minutes in the pre-heated oven.