Ingredients
For the pastry
This is for a 10 inch (25cm) tart - for which you need a flan tin, sort of obviously.
300g plain flour
125g butter
30g sugar
1 egg
milk to bind
For the filling
250g unsalted butter
250g suger (although you might think about using less, say 200g) you can use caster or granulated, either is fine
250g ground almonds
3 eggs
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
50g plain flour
Sharp, tart, red/purple jam of choice (or if you haven't got any and want to make some real quick, see here)
Pastry
Do we need to do this? You probably fall into one of two camps - you either think pastry is to boring/tedious/complex to make in which case you buy it (which is fine by the way as long as it is butter based) or are pretty seasoned and so will not need any further help apart from the quantities given above. If you want a method, then look here please
Similarly, do I really need to tell you to use the pastry to line the flan case and then blind bake it? Seems fairly obvious??
So to make the frangipane
Cream together the butter and sugar till pale and smooth
Add in the ground almonds and mix thoroughly
Add the eggs one at a time mixing thoroughly in between times
Fold in the lemon zest and flour (if you don't understand what is meant by folding in, see here)
Assembly
Spread a generous layer of jam all over the pastry base to within 2 cm of the edge (when you level the frangipane it pushed the jam to the edge)
dollpo the frangipane mixture over the jam - I tend to use large spoonfuls in different places then
smooth the frangipane to the edge of the pastry. It is fairly thick so this will push the jam about too
Make sure the frangipane "seals" to the pastry to prevent jam oosing out
Baking
Put into a 180 degree oven for about 30 minutes unti the frangipane is just about set (a little wobble in the centre to allow for post oven cooking) and is golden brown.
Eat warm or cold with cream/creme fraiche/custard to choice
Method
Where to start with this one. I made Bakewell tart today (6th November) for pudding with Sunday Lunch - which, perversely was eaten at 8pm because of Children "things" going on. Anyway I had some pears from our tree which I thought would be nice in a pear and almond tart. It is one that we used for a pop-up supper once and was well received - the combination of almonds and pears and butter is warm and soft and yum, combined with crisp pastry it is sensational - the recipe I use is based on one from the River Cafe and is in their eponymous cook book (just wanted to use that word).
However, on inspection the pears were way beyond their best and so I ended up throwing them away. Should have made it last weekend (and would have if our local Morrisons could keep things like Ground Almonds in stock regularly). However spilt milk and all that. Having the almonds now, thoughts turn to alternatives. Tunisian orange cake - its good, but not as unctuous as I'm looking for to follow my roast lamb. Bakewell tart - perfect. Lovely frangipane, crisp pastry and tart jam. Ah, no Jam in the cupboard (well not of the right sort - I have greengage, but Bakewell tart demands something tart (!) and, more importantly blood red, so it looks like it is bleeding when it is cut...
Rather than be deterred by the lack of Jam, I seek inspiration from the participants of the Great British Bake Off - when they have a Victoria sandwich to make, they dont' get out a jar of jam, no they go to first principles and make it! How difficult can it be - well it turns out not very if you have some frozen fruit and about half an hour - both of which I did on this cold wet Sunday afternoon. However, undogmatic to the last, please feel free to use a jar of suitably red and cheek-suckingly acidic jam you may have. Think blackcurrant, redcurrant, raspberry. Strawberry is, in my humble opinion too sweet with the frangipane you are looking for contrast.