MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06

Title: Almond Tart
Categories: Tarts
Yield: 1 Tart

MMMMM---------------------------DOUGH--------------------------------
1 c Flour (140 g)
1 tb Sugar
1/2 c Unsalted butter (115 g);
-chilled, cut into little
-cubes
1 tb Ice water
1/2 ts Vanilla extract
1/8 ts Almond extract

MMMMM--------------------------FILLING-------------------------------
1 c Heavy cream (250 ml)
1 c Sugar (200 g)
1/8 ts Salt
1 c Sliced almonds (80 g)
1/8 ts Almond extract
2 ts Grand Marnier or Amaretto

Dough:

Mix the flour and sugar in a standing electric mixer or food
processor (or by hand, using a pastry blender.)

Add the butter and mix or pulse until the butter is in very small
pieces, the size of rice. It should be pretty well-integrated with no
large visible chunks.

Add the water and extracts and mix until the dough is smooth and comes
together.

Press into a flat disk, wrap in plastic and chill thoroughly.

To put the pastry in the pan, let the dough come to room temperature
and press the dough into a tart shell using your hand.

It takes some practice but don't worry if it doesn t look perfect.
Try to get the dough relatively flat on the bottom, and push it
evenly up the sides with your thumbs. But once again, it doesn't need
to be perfect, but you do want to make sure the sides don't collapse.
If that happens, you can take it out midway during baking, and push
the half-baked dough back up the sides.

Put the tart shell in the freezer and chill thoroughly.

To bake the shell, preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).

Bake the shell for 20-30 minutes, until it is set and light
golden-brown.

Remove from the oven and patch any holes with leftover dough.

Filling:

To bake the tart, line the rack under the one you plan to use with a
sheet of aluminum foil to catch any spills and drips.

Heat the cream, sugar, and salt in a big, wide heavy-duty pot (use one
that's at least 4 qt, 4 l) until it begins to boil.

Continue to cook and when it starts to foam up, remove it from the
heat and stir in the almonds, the almond extract, and the liquor.

Scrape the filling into the shell. If there s a bit too much filling,
don't toss it; in case the tart leaks, you can use it to add more.

Make sure there s no clumps or piles of almonds and that everything is
evenly distributed, then put the filled tart shell into the oven.

After the first 10 minutes, check the tart.

Take a heatproof rubber spatula, holding it diagonally and with a
tapping motion, break up the surface of the tart. Doing this is very
important since it avoids the top of the tart getting that corn flaky
look.

Be sure to give the filling a good series of taps not enough to break
the tart shell pastry underneath, but it s important to break up the
surface crust that s forming.

Continue to cook, checking the tart every 5-8 minutes, and break up
any dry crust that may be forming, getting less aggressive as the
filling sets up. As it begins to caramelize, stop tapping it and let
the tart do its thing.

Remove the tart from the oven when the filling is the color of coffee
with a light touch of cream in it and there are no large pockets of
gooey white filling, about 30 minutes. Let the tart cool a few
minutes on a cooling rack.

Check and see if the tart has fastened itself to the tart ring. Slide
a knife (or a curved vegetable peeler, which will slide nicely in
between the ridges) between the tart and the pan to loosen it so the
sides don't come off when you remove the ring.
continued in part 2

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