Traditional English Tart Recipe

Since I started watching Downton Abbey I have become obsessed with all things British, just call me Lady Orozco. I big heart the show so much! I love the clothes, the decorations and the food. I thought I would share a recipe that I found, changed a bit and made my own. This recipe can be made into little individual tarts or one large tart to be cut up and served. It's part store bought ingredients and handmade ingredients, which are my favorite kinds of recipes.

You will need:
> Premade pie crust
> 3 tbsp. jam ( I used raspberry and blackberry)
> 1 1\2 sticks butter, softened
> 3 eggs and 1 egg yolk, beaten
> 2 tbsp. flour
> 3\4 cup sugar
> 1 1\2 almonds
> 1 egg white
> Zest of 1 lemon

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Grease your pie tin ( I used a cupcake tin for my mini tarts ). I also find it helpful to sprinkle some flour onto the tin, then just turn it upside down (over your sink or the trash) and tap the back of the tin so the excess falls off. This small step has saved me so many times when baking mini bundt cakes, and it also worked for these tarts.

Roll out your pre-made dough and cut your circles, I played around with different glasses and cups until I found a size that worked. This is actually the bottom part of a juicer.

Press your dough into your tart wells.

Using a fork poke 3 sets of holes into the bottom of the tart wells.

Bake for 15 minutes or until golden color.  Remove from the oven and brush the inside of the tart crust with egg white, bake for another 5 minutes. 

Spoon a small dollop of your jam into each tart and set aside to cool.

Using a food processor or blender chop your almonds down to a fine powder, almost like flour. This is a really important step, so don't think you can add chopped almonds instead of finely blended almonds. Been there, done that. Your almonds should be the same consistency as shown below.

In a mixer cream your butter, adding your sugar slowly. Then slowly add your eggs and fold in your almonds and lemon zest. 

Add about a tablespoon of your mixture to each tart and level. Bake for 20 minutes and let cool.

I was able to easily remove each tart from the pan, but if you have trouble you may want to place your tarts in the fridge for a few minutes so you can turn the pan upside down. I ruined a few tart by trying to flip it over to soon, and the filling just ran all over my hands. Boo.

You can top these babies with some whipped cream or eat them plain. They have a nutty flavor from the almonds that is really unique. I can't really say I've had a dessert like it before.

I'm thinking a few of these need to be tucked away and enjoyed for the season premiere tonight. Season 3 baby!
april
xoxo