Ultimate Almond Tart

I mentioned in my prior post about enjoying the BEST almond tart ever. It comes from the folks at Downtown Bakery and Creamery in Healdsburg. After doing a bit of digging on their site, I found their recipe for this delectable treat. I altered it ever so slightly and made it over the weekend. This has to be classified as the ultimate almond tart. I highly encourage all of the almond tart fans out there to make this recipe – you will not be disappointed.

We had a long overdue visit to our neighbors on Sunday. I brought over several slices of the tart for the family to enjoy. It was great to catch up and see how big their Bernese Mountain puppy had grown. She now is close to 100 pounds and when we last saw her, she was about 25 pounds. It is amazing how quickly time flies.

We were able to enjoy a slice each of the tart on Sunday evening while watching the two hour Brothers and Sister episode. With a busy work week, both Charles and I are happy we have made it to “hump day”. The weekend is not too far away – can hardly wait. Do you have any exciting plans for the upcoming weekend?

Ultimate Almond Tart

Tart Dough

1 C. Flour
1 T. Sugar
½ C. Butter
2 T. Cold Water
¼ t. Salt

Put flour, salt and sugar in a bowl of a stand mixer. Cut butter into small pieces. Add to mixture and use paddle attachment and mix on medium speed. Mix butter into flour mixture until it resembles cornmeal. Add water and quickly mix together. Remove from bowl and form a ball. Flatten into a disk and wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

Use a 4 x 13 inch rectangle tart pan with removable bottom. Spray with non-stick spray. Roll out pastry to 1/8th inch thick and put into pan. Press the dough firmly onto the sides. Freeze for 30 minutes to allow dough to relax.

Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 25 minutes. A light golden color is good. Press dough together if there are holes.

Almond Filling

1 C. Whipping Cream
1 C. Sugar
1 T. Cointreau
1 C. Sliced Almonds, lightly toasted
½ t. Salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix cream, sugar and cointreau in a saucepan large enough for the mixture to triple in volume, stirring well. Heat to a rolling boil while stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, mix in almonds and let stand for 15 minutes. Pour the filling into pre-baked shell. Make sure the almonds float evenly through the filling. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. It should be a light caramel color and yields a soft and chewy almond tart. The darker the color, the crunchier the tart.