Italian Almond Tart

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I wanted to make almond tart for so long. After knowing this month theme for Bake Along is almond tart I wait no more :D Actually I baked this tart few weeks ago. It really delicious! I love the nutty, moist crumbly almond filling on top of flaky pastry.

The recipe calls for almond paste. I have no idea what is that. This make me think of Joyce, Kitchen Flavours Toasted Almond Pound Cake. The cake used almond paste too. I understand from Joyce we can make the paste by using ground almond, icing sugar and egg white. After consult Joyce, she gave me the almond paste recipe as needed for this Italian Almond Tart. Thanks Joyce!

I used my favourite tart dough recipe. As usual I prepared one day ahead and chilled my tart shell overnight before used. I didn’t pre-bake my tart shell. I only relies the tart shell need to be pre-baked after sent into oven! I'm worried the filing would burn before the tart shell cooked through. I monitored closely when the filling turned brown after 30 minutes of cooking time. I covered the top with aluminium foil to prevent further browning. I took an hour to bake this almond tart. I'm glad everything turned well. The filling is not dry and the pie crust is flaky. If happen to bake again I still will proceed with unbaked tart shell.

Italian Almond Tart

Ingredients:

~Almond paste (recipe from Joyce), Yield about 260g almond paste.

150g ground almond

90g sifted icing sugar 

½ teaspoon almond extract (omit)

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 small egg white

Combine ground almond, icing sugar and salt into a mixing bowl. Slightly stir to mix. Add in egg white and mix with spatula. Form into dough. Wrap with cling wrap and store in refrigerator until use.

~Tart shell

200g all-purpose flour

60g icing sugar

100g cold butter, diced

1 egg yolk

A teaspoon or more egg whites (if the crust is too dry)

~Almond filling (recipe from williams-sonoma with minor modification)

125g salted butter, at room temperature

260g almond paste, cut into 1-inch cubes (recipe above)

20g sugar

2 eggs

1⁄3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

4 tablespoons homemade roselle jam (can use raspberry, plum or cherry jam)

1⁄3 cup sliced almonds

Methods:

1. In a mixing bowl, add in flour and icing sugar. Add the diced cold butter and rub with hand till form crumbs.

2. Add in the yolk and mix till blended. Check by gather the crumbs with hand. If easy to form into lumps means the dough is right. Only add in egg whites (a teaspoon at a time) if the dough is too dry.

3. Gently gather all the lumps into a ball. Do not knead as kneading will cause hard crust. Wrap the dough with cling wrap and rest in fridge at least 30 minutes.

4. Roll out the dough between cling wrap (for easy transfer) to a round shape, slightly bigger than 9-inch tart pan. Transfer the roll out dough into tart pan with the help of cling wrap. Remove the cling wrap, gently pressing dough to fit. With rolling pin trim excess dough flush with rim. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour before used (I kept mine overnight).

5. In a bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter until smooth. Add the almond paste, one piece at a time, beating until smooth after each addition. While continuing to beat, sprinkle in the sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the flour.

6. Spread the jam evenly over the bottom of the tart shell. Spoon in the almond paste mixture and spread evenly over the jam. Sprinkle the surface evenly with the sliced almonds.

7. Preheat the oven at 170C. Bake the tart until the filling is golden and the middle is firm to the touch, about 1 hour. Transfer to a wire rack and let the tart cool completely. If using a tart pan with a removable bottom, let the sides fall away, then slide the tart onto a serving plate. Serve at room temperature.

*I do not pre-bake my tart shell. Therefore the baking time is longer. I cover the top with aluminium foil after 30 minutes in oven to prevent the filling further browning.

I'm linking this post to Bake-Along #55 hosted by Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids, Joyce from Kitchen Flavours and Lena from Frozen Wings.