This recipe was discovered by my friend Ellen and turns out different almost every time you make it. At least that’s how it was a few years ago – maybe practise yields more reliable results….it was always really good!
It is excellent with a glass of tawny port for dessert.
for the crust:
120 g butter
125 g flour plus 1-2 tablespoons for rolling dough out
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 pinch of salt
1/4 cup of ice water
for the filling:
100 g almonds roasted lightly, ground fine
200 g sugar
4 eggs, separated
1 teaspoon real vanilla
Mix flour, sugar and salt together, then cut the fat in with a pastry cutter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Slowly add water until dough just holds together, roll out and line tart pan (which has a removable bottom) with it. Line dough with tin foil and weigh down with some pie weights or beans. Bake for ten minutes at 350° F.
Meanwhile mix the egg yolks with sugar until pale and thick about 2 minutes. Fold yolks into nuts and carefully add vanilla. Beat egg whites stiff, take 1/3 of the whites and mix with yolk mixture then carefully and quickly fold in the rest. Pour into prebaked tart shell and bake at 350° F for 35-40 minutes.
