Strawberry almond tart

I love Cannelle et Vanille – a baking feast to aspire to, it always has stunningly beautiful photos, fantastic desserts and simple, straightforward recipes. I had never plucked up the courage to make anything from the site (if you visit you might understand why!), but her plum and almond tart gave me hope. Last time I checked plums were around $9 a kilo, but mum had picked up some strawberries recently which are in season at the moment, so I thought I’d give it a try with a little bit of a twist. It looked so simple, didn’t require making a tart shell (which still gives me flutters), and had almond flour in. What’s not to like?!

The almond meal I used was made from unblanched almonds, so it looks a little grainier, but it still tasted fantastic. You can really just use ground almonds, although probably not the stuff you make yourself as it will come out more like almond butter in parts.

Strawberry and almond tart
makes one 9″ tart to serve 10-12.
150g egg whites (approx 4 large eggs needed) – see below for egg yolk uses!
155g white sugar
70g plain flour
65g almond flour/almond meal/ground almonds
190g unsalted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (use the best, otherwise don’t use it at all)
approx 7 strawberries

Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat, then let cool.
Whisk egg whites and sugar until combined (no need for beating). Mix in flour and almond flour until uniformly moist. Slowly drizzle in melted butter and fold in until incorporated. Refrigerate overnight.
Baking day:
Preheat oven to 180C/350F, arranging rack in center. Grease the sides and bottom of a 9″ tart pan (I didn’t do the sides and they stuck quite stubbornly).
Aran suggests putting the batter in a pastry bag and piping it into your tart pan. I didn’t have a pastry bag so I just spooned all the batter into my 9″ tart pan, and patted it out with my palms. Top with halved strawberries, pushing each berry half into the batter a little.
Bake for about half an hour until golden brown and the center springs back when you poke it.

Egg yolk uses at Taste