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A the recipe box was shot, but, alas, like buying at the last minute, nothing appeared. Out of the corner of my eye I saw an old pudding folder, all dirty and torn. The puzzle of how this could have escaped was soon resolved – not surprising, really, given the usual nature of my desk and shelves – and the page that opened revealed the menu for a medium pudding. And, just like that, as if the smell came out of the page itself, came the memory of almonds, chocolate, walnuts and prune tart being taken out of the oven, all mahogany made with a little foam bursting from the pieces of chocolate between the prunes looking out.
The longing for the onion did not end; be it in the restaurant kitchen or at home, the almond tart is inevitable. When I was younger, almond tarts were often made with prepared almonds and often topped with a drop or two of almonds, because they were often shy. But then bags of marcona almonds from Spain started arriving, and they quickly took over any idea of cooking with any other almonds. These almonds look like teardrops and are of a unique color, soft, shiny and just gray, they have a beautiful taste and a great taste. The benefit of not having a tart skin is that it is best to bake the tart on a rack that sits in a tray to catch the butter and almond oil tears released during cooking.
My love of baking means that I have baked cakes for many of the restaurants I have cooked for. And, somehow, almond tart always seems to be on the menu. Some remained plain, others were decorated with sliced fruits such as apple, apricot and pear; Another favorite was topping the tart with prunes. To match the marcona almonds, the prunes have to come from Agen in the southwest of France, famous for their tolerance and their taste that comes from a little drying (It’s cut). So much so, in fact, that they have been given protection responsibility.
The same region of France also has some of the best nuts, which also went into the rocks, as well as jars of bitter chocolate. When I cooked this Alastair Little‘s eponymous restaurant in Soho, we dipped Agen prunes in armagnac, but to save the chef’s wallet in these difficult times, amontillado sherry is also very happy. The result was well received and served well both on the menu and at home. As with recipes, some variations were the beginning until my friend encouraged me and suddenly the sleeping beauty was awakened to be presented here.
Almond, chocolate and prune tart
It creates 1 x 23 cm tall
150 g cold unsalted butter
250 g ’00’ flourfiltered
75 g of sugar
Sea salt
1 eggto be beaten
100 g of chopped walnuts
12 Agen prunescut in half and stoned
100 g 70% dark chocolateto be cut off
For frangipane
250 g softened unsalted butter
200 g brown sugar
2 eggsto be beaten
250 g whole marcona almonds
Best made in the beginning, these cookies are lightly coated with cold butter and ’00’ flour, confectioners’ sugar and sea salt. Add to this an egg beaten with a spoonful of cold water, fold it quietly into a smooth dough and make it into a disk, then cover and refrigerate for one hour.
Frangipane is made by mixing softened butter and caster sugar, then slowly adding two beaten eggs. Grind all the marcona almonds into crumbs, then mix. Again, this keeps well in the refrigerator.
Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan) / 350F / gas 4. Roll out the pastry on a thin surface to fit a 22-23cm tin with the base removed. Assemble the rolled cake on a pin and place in the tin. Raise the edge slowly and let the disc fall into the case, then press the edge down, pressing with your finger to ensure that the cookies are in the right direction of the case. Pinch together any cracks.
Put spoonfuls of frangipane in the tin, but not smooth. Press the chopped walnuts evenly over the tart, then lightly fold in the prunes. Finally, cover the tart with chopped chocolate, and place it lightly on the floor.
Place the tart case on the rack, place the rack in the oven tray and transfer to the oven. Reduce the heat to 150C (130C fan)/300F/gas 2 and bake for an hour, checking occasionally to see if the tart needs to be turned to make it stand out. Reduce the oven temperature to 120C (100C fan)/260F/gas ½ and bake for 15 minutes. The tart is best eaten warm with a jug of the best Jersey cream.
