Sour Cherry And Pistachio Bakewell Tart With Cardamom Pastry Recipe

Method

1. To make the pastry, put the butter and flour in a food processor with a large pinch of salt and pulse until you have a coarse, sandy texture. Pulse in the sugar and cardamom briefly to combine, then pulse in the egg and water mixture, just until the dough comes together. Remove from the food processor and knead briefly on the countertop, adding a dusting of flour if the dough feels sticky. Once it’s smooth, shape into a fat disc, wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 1-2 hours, or overnight.
2. Once the pastry has rested and firmed up, lightly dust a work surface with flour and carefully roll out the pastry to a circle around 32cm diameter - the pastry should be the thickness of a £1 coin. Loosely roll the pastry up onto the rolling pin, then transfer it to the cake tin, and gently press it into the corners, keeping an overhang on the pastry at the top of the tin. Break a little of this overhang off, and form into a ball. Dip it in flour and use this to press round the bottom edges of the tin to get a sharp corner on the pastry. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes or the freezer for 15 minutes to firm up.
3. Heat the oven to 190°C/170°C fan. Once the pastry is firm, put it on a baking tray, line with foil (it gives a better result than baking paper) and fill with baking beans. Bake for 25 minutes, then carefully remove the foil and beans, gently prick the base with a fork and return to the oven. Turn the temperature down to 150°C/130°C fan and bake for a further 10-20 minutes, until the pastry has no traces of grey in it and is a uniform sandy colour. Remove the pastry and turn the oven back up to 170°C/150°C fan.
4. While the pastry base is baking, make the frangipane. Put the butter, sugar, egg, flour, pistachio flour and ground almonds into a food processor with a good pinch of sea salt, and whizz until completely combined. If your butter isn’t very soft, whizz that with the sugar first until smooth, before adding the remaining ingredients. Stir the 25g of sour cherries through the mixture and set aside.
5. Once the pastry case is cooked, carefully remove the overhanging pastry using a small, serrated knife and cutting flush to the top of the tin so you get a flat edge to the pastry. Spread the jam on the bottom of the tart case, then carefully spoon the frangipane on top (try not to dislodge the jam too much), and spread it out evenly using a spatula. Scatter the almonds evenly over the top of the frangipane and press down gently. Bake in the middle of the oven for 45-50 minutes, until the frangipane and almonds are very lightly golden but the frangipane still has a small wobble in the middle when you shake it gently. Leave to cool for 20 minutes in the tin, then carefully remove from the tin and base and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.
6. To serve, roughly crush the remaining sour cherries. Slice the tart with a serrated knife, and serve with a dollop of Greek yogurt, some nibbed pistachios and the crushed sour cherries. If you don’t have nibbed pistachios you could also scatter a little of the pistachio flour over the top of each.