John's Christmas Bakewell
This is a substantial and delicious alternative to other seasonal cakes and puddings – perfect for a last-minute addition to a Christmas buffet.
Ingredients:
For the pastry base:
125g butter.
250g plain flour.
50g icing sugar.
1 egg.
For the filling:
175g margarine.
175g sugar.
200g self-raising flour.
3 eggs.
A generous tablespoon of good almond essence.
For the icing:
3 tablespoons icing sugar.
1 teaspoon almond essence.
1 teaspoon water.
Flaked almonds.
Method:
For the pastry base:
Rub the butter in to the flour and sugar before binding together with the beaten egg.
Roll out the pastry to line a deep flan case.
Cover the base with a layer of fruit mincemeat topped with glace cherries and flaked almonds.
Whizz all the ‘filling’ ingredients together in a food processor and pour into the flan case.
Bake at 160C Gas 4 for about an hour.
Mix the icing sugar, essence and water together to create a smooth and slightly runny icing.
Remove the tart from the flan case once cooled and pour over the icing, topping with the almonds.