Almond Tart

I seem to find myself snacking on nuts lately, especially almonds. Unlike what I usually snack on like Lays Salt and Vinegar chips or hunky bags of M&M'S, nuts are healthful (right?). Though, botanists claim that almonds aren’t actually nuts. The almond is a species of tree native to the Middle East. The edible part of the almond, which is the mahogany hard nut that we eat, is really just a seed of the fruit drupe. It perhaps may be a seed, but the almond is still a nut that impresses me with its many uses and flavors.

Some enjoy eating this rather bitter nut (or seed) raw rolled with spices or in a trail mix, but I prefer mine sweet, turned into some sort of pastry-like confection. One of my favorites is an almond cake using almond meal, grounded up almonds, that have turned into marzipan or almond paste. These are damp and soft, perfect with whipped cream and some fruit resting on top. In France, my prized almond treat is the French macaron. It’s basically a meringue mixed with powdered sugar, almond flour and your choice of flavoring piped and baked to form tiny little domes of light, dense and chewy goodness. These tiny domes are used as a sandwich to hold colorful and sweet butter cream or ganache. I’ve even made my own (fail) French macarons, but they probably weren’t as shiny and chewy as the ones sold in the boutiques of Laduree.

Since I happened to spot an unopened bag of blanched almonds in my pantry the other day, I wanted to make a dessert out of it. I saw a recipe for an almond tart from David Lebovitz and it looked so appetizing. It looked crunchy and caramel-y, but he warned that it would be difficult to create and had a great chance of frustrating the baker. Still, I went for it, but instead of adhering to his somewhat complicated instructions (which I would probably fail to follow anyways) and turning out a crunchy “cookie-like accompaniment”, I made mine smooth and caramel-y with a thick custard-like top burying a bed of flaky thin almonds.

Almond Tart :Adapted from David Lebovitz

For the dough
1 cup (140 g) flour

2 tablespoon sugar

1/2 cup (4 oz, 115 g) chilled unsalted butter, cut into little cubes

1 tablespoon ice water

1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

1. Mix the flour and sugar in a standing electric mixer or food processor (or by hand, using a pastry blender.)
2. Add the butter and mix or pulse until the butter is in very small pieces, coarse sand. The whole mixture should resemble light colored sand
3. Add the water and extracts and mix until the dough is smooth and comes together.
4. Press into a flat disk, wrap in plastic and chill for around 30 minutes or so.

5. Once thoroughly chilled, butter a 9 or 10 inch tart pan. Remove the dough from the plastic and press, using your clean fingers, the dough into the tart pan.

6. After the fifth step is completed, freeze the tart pan with the crust already in it for around another 30 minutes while preheating you oven to 375F (190C).

7. When you're ready to bake, remove the tart from the freezer and cover it with foil and fill it with pie weights or uncooked rice, as to not allow it to rise during baking.

8. After baking it for ten minutes, remove the foil with the pie weights or rice and return the tart into the oven for around another 10-15 minutes or until slightly golden brown.

For the tart filling
1 cup (250 ml) heavy cream

1 cup (200 g) sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup (80 g) sliced almonds

1/8 teaspoon almond extract

2 teaspoons Frangelico(Hazelnut) or Amaretto(almond)

1. To bake the tart, line the rack under the one you plan to use with a sheet of aluminum foil.
2. Heat the cream, sugar, and salt in a big, wide heavy-duty pot until it begins to boil.

3. Once the mixture begins to foam up or bubble add in the almonds, almond extract and liquor.

4. Add the liquid-y mixture into the tart and bake it in the same preheated oven.

5. After the first ten minutes, use an off-set spatula to break any crust forming on the surface of the tart. Do the same thing every few minutes.

6. Bake the tart for around 30-40 minutes until the top looks slightly caramel-like.

The tart I made didn't turn out exactly like his recipe. Mine became less crunchy and more creamy.