For the first time this year I attended my alma mater’s annual local potluck dinner. I signed up to bring a dessert, as I’m always glad to have an opportunity to make a pie or tart when there are others available to eat most of it! This time I chose to make an Italian Almond Tart, a recipe I’ve made a few times before and was confident in. Also, I’d picked up some homemade blackberry jam from the folks at Harris Orchards, and I was eager to put it to good use.
The nice thing about this tart is that it’s quite easy to make, but guests assume it was complicated because it looks so professional when it’s done. I highly recommend it for when you want to impress people! The trickiest aspect of the recipe is making the tart shell dough. As with all pie crusts, the tricks are to (1) use very cold butter, preferably some that’s been kept in the freezer; (2) use very cold water, preferably some that’s been chilled in the freezer; (3) handle the dough as little as possible, for which I recommend making it in a food processor; and (4) chill it thoroughly before rolling it out and again before it goes in the oven, which will both help you add as little extra flour as possible in the rolling and keep it nice and flaky. The dough recipe for this tart is quite sticky, with the egg yolk and vanilla, so judicious chilling helps a lot.
The tart shell is prepared by half baking it, which means you line it with tinfoil, weight the bottom with rice or dry beans or little ceramic beads, and then cook it at 375F for 20 to 30 minutes, until the crust is golden and the dough is no longer wet. Once the tart shell is rolled out and baking, the rest couldn’t be easier.
Step 1: mis en place.
Sugar, flour, butter, eggs, almond paste.
Step 2: cream the butter, beat in almond paste chunks [note: almond paste is not the same as marzipan, the ratio of almonds to sugar is higher], beat in eggs, mix in sugar and flour.
Nice and smooth.
Step 3: when the tart shell is done — this one actually could have used another 5 to 10 minutes, as it’s still a little wet — spread the jam in the bottom.
Blackberry jam ready to go.
Your shell will then look like this:
Having the shell a bit warm will help spread the jam.
Step 4: spoon the filling evenly into the shell, trying not to push the jam too far up on the sides; pushing out from the middle will cause a lot of overflow.
Work quickly to keep the filling from melting too much.
Step 5: sprinkle the almonds on top and bake.
Nice and even.
Step 6: bake at 350F 30 to 40 minutes, then let it cool on a rack overnight to firm up, then slide it onto a plate and chill in the fridge or serve; this one could have again been baked about 5 minutes longer, but I was on my way out the door to something else so I didn’t make time for that.
The tart will have risen and will collapse a bit as it cools.
Finally, enjoy! Do I need to say that there were no leftovers?