Recipes
Enjoy that most quintessentially British tradition of afternoon tea in the sunshine, with this selection of dainty pastries
CHERRY & ALMOND BAKEWELL TARTS
Dainty tarts with a crisp almond pastry, cherry and Amaretto jam, soft buttery frangipane, topped with almond flavoured icing, with toasted almonds and a little slither of cherry.
● 3 tbsp good-quality cherry jam
● 400g frangipane
● 50g flaked almonds
● 3–4 glacé cherries (or top with a fresh cherry for a summer hit) ALMOND PASTRY
● 175g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
● 25g ground almonds
● Pinch of salt
● 100g butter, chilled and diced
● 25g icing sugar
● 1 egg, lightly beaten
● 100g icing sugar
● ½ tsp almond extract
● 10cm round cookie cutter
● 12 x 7cm fluted tart pans or a 12-hole muffin pan, greased
1. Start by making the almond pastry. Tip the flour and ground almonds into the bowl of a food processor, and add the salt and the butter. Using the pulse button, rub the butter into the flour until it is pale and sand-like in texture. Add the icing sugar and pulse again to combine. Add the beaten egg and pulse again until the dough starts to come together.
2. Tip out the dough onto the work surface and use your hands to bring it together into a neat ball. Flatten into a disc, cover in clingfilm and chill for at least one hour until it is firm.
3. Roll out the chilled pastry on a lightly floured work surface to a thickness of no more than 2mm. Stamp out as many discs as you can using the cookie cutter. Gather the scraps together, re-roll and stamp out more discs. Gently press the pastry discs into the tart pans, trying not to stretch the dough but making sure that the pans are evenly lined.
4. Arrange the pans on a baking sheet and chill for 20 minutes while you preheat the oven to 170°C /350°F/ Gas 3. Place another solid baking sheet on the middle shelf of the oven to heat up while it preheats.
5. Spread ½ teaspoon of jam into each tart shell and divide the frangipane evenly between the tarts – spreading it to evenly cover the jam.
6. Carefully transfer the individual pans to the hot baking sheet from the oven and bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes until the frangipane and pastry are golden and the pastry is crisp.
7. While the oven is hot, lightly toast the almonds on a baking sheet for 4 minutes until golden. Leave the tarts to cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
8. To make the frosting, sift the icing sugar into a bowl, add a drop or two of almond extract and enough water to make a smooth liquid that will coat the back of a spoon. Neatly spoon the icing over the frangipane in each tart
