Cherry Tart

Total Time: 1 hr 20 mins Preparation Time: 5 mins Cook Time: 1 hr 15 mins

Ingredients

• 8 ounces plain flour
• 1 pinch salt
• 2 teaspoons icing sugar
• 1 ounce cornflour
• 4 ounces lard
• 2 ounces margarine, mixed with the lard
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• 1 lb black cherries, stoned (or pitted if you prefer)
• 4 ounces icing sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3 ounces ground almonds, finely ground
• 3 -5 drops almond essence

Recipe

• 1 set oven to 400f or gas mark 6.
• 2 make the pastry- sift the flour, salt, cornflour and icing sugar into a bowl.
• 3 rub in the mixed lard/margarine and bind into a dough with the egg yolk and water.
• 4 knead the pastry lightly and roll out.
• 5 grease a 9 inch pie dish and line with the rolled out pastry.
• 6 bake blind for 15 minutes.
• 7 reduce oven temperature to 325f or gas mark 3.
• 8 remove pie shell from oven.
• 9 arrange cherries in the pastry case.
• 10 mix the sugar, eggs and almonds together with the almond essence.
• 11 pour the mixture over the cherries.
• 12 bake for 50- 60 minutes until firm and golden.
• 13 serve hot or cold with cream and/or ice cream.
• 14 nb baking blind is to place s piece of baking paper in the shell, then fill the shell with split peas (or other appropriate filling).
• 15 the peas and paper are removed when the shell is cooked.
• 16 this causes an even heat to be distributed and at the same time prevents the bottom and the sides of the shell from expanding too much and appearing'lumpy'.
• 17 it also helps give the shell a pale colour so that when it is baked later with a filling it does not go black.