... who in their right mind would riot when you can feast on Almond ...

... tart with raspberries and crème fraîche.

Ingredients

For the pastry

125g/4oz unsalted butter
250g/8oz plain flour
25g/1oz caster sugar
1 whole egg
tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp iced water

For the almond filling 

300g/10oz whole blanched almonds
300g/10oz unsalted butter
300g/10oz caster sugar
tsp vanilla extract
6 whole eggs
The zest of one unwaxed lemon

 To serve

1 punnet of raspberries
Crème fraîche 

Method

Start by making the pastry. First, make sure the butter is cold, and dice into small pieces. Sift the flour and place in a food mixer; add the butter, sugar, egg and vanilla extract. Turn the motor on and pulse until you have the consistency of wet sand. At this stage add the water; the pastry will soon begin to come together and form a ball. Turn off the machine and remove the ball of pastry to a work surface; knead lightly once or twice and wrap in parchment paper. 

Place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.  Once it is chilled, lightly flour your work surface and roll the pastry into a circle about an eighth-of-an-inch thick. Place as a base into a 10-inch tart tin, pressing the pastry firmly into the side of the tin with your thumbs. Prick the base well all over with a fork and return to the fridge to chill for a further 30 minutes. 

While the pastry is chilling, make the almond filling. Place the almonds into a food processor and pulse until ground. Add the butter, sugar and vanilla extract and purée until smooth. Add the eggs one by one through the funnel in the top and finally add the lemon zest. Remove from the mixer and set aside.

Heat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas6 and blind bake the pastry case for 15 minutes (to do this, lay a circle of greaseproof paper across the pastry and weigh down with dried beans). 

Remove from the oven, discard the beans and fill with the almond paste. Return to the middle shelf of the oven. Turn down the heat to 180C/350F/Gas4 and bake for 30 minutes or until firm in the centre. Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature. 

Serve the tart with a spoonful of crème fraîche and a scattering of raspberries for each person.

... thanks to Skye Gyngell of the Independent, happy days .....