The thought of pastry for me brings instant famish feeling and I find it difficult to resist, flaky pastry with almond and apple. Does this sound like a deal, oh yes for me it is, especially when it’s crammed with extra beautiful aromatic ingredients such as cardamom cinnamon & vanilla beans. Tempting as this sounds, delicious it is too.

To preserve extra crunch and flavour I have left the apple skin on. This is a very delicate tart with almond frangipane encased within this flaky pastry which I find brings instant glory to this tart.

Ingredients Serves 8-10

• 1 sheet short crust pastry or puff pastry
• 1 kg dessert apples – cored and sliced in half then cut in thick slices
• 150g ground almond
• 100g caster sugar
• Pinch of salt (I used sel de fleur) 
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 30g butter, melted
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 4 tablespoons apricot jam (optional)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C / Gas 4.
2. Thinly grease a 23cm tart tin or roasting tray and cover with the pastry. Trim excess from edges and prick the bottom with a fork. Place in the fridge till needed.
3. Cut the apple, place in a bowl, sprinkle with ground cinnamon, cardamom and a squeeze the juice of half a lemon. Toss and leave aside. Place in a tray and cook in a pre-heated oven for 30 minutes until the apples are soft and tender and brown on the edges.
4. For the frangipane, combine the almonds, sugar and salt in a food processor. Pulse till the almonds are finely ground (alternatively, skip this step and start with 150g ground almonds). Add the eggs, almond extract and melted butter. Pulse to combine.
5. Spoon the frangipane into the chilled pastry, and spread into an even layer. Arrange the cooled apple slices on top in an overlapping pattern if possible (I tend to just arrange them looking like this). Start at the outside edge, and work towards the centre.
6. Bake tart in the oven for 25 to 35 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown and the apples are tender. Remove from the oven to cool on a wire rack.
7. If desired, heat the apricot jam in the microwave till liquid. Brush over the warm tart. Allow to rest further before slicing, so that the jam has time to set. Serve the tart warm or at room temperature with a scoop of ice cream or fresh cream.

Brinda’s Note: Should you wish to peel the apple you can.