Cherry-Almond Heart Tart

Make your Valentine's Day sweeter with this crumbly and buttery tart,

 filled with sweet cherry preserve and lots of almonds 

Made with love :)

Love is in the air!! Can you feel it too? 

This year I'm all excited about Valentine's Day. Maybe because it gives me one excuse to whip up something deliciously sweet in my kitchen and not feeling guilty about it.

But who really need excuses to bake this luscious dessert? This tart is filled with a classic, sweet cherry preserve, topped with crunchy almond slices. But that's not all! I added more almonds, grounded right in the dough, for a super-tasty, crumbly and buttery crust. So delicious and really perfect for any occasion. 
For today though, let's not just decorate the tart with the classic (and boring) lattice on top. But lots of heart-shaped cookies, making this a great romantic dessert to share with your Valentine.

I used my food processor to prepare the dough, making the job super easy and fast. 

I started by grounding whole, roasted almonds and processing them together with all the other ingredients for the dough. You can also use almond meal, if you have it.  And mix everything by hand or a hand mixer. In this case, I suggest softening the butter at room temperature to make the job a bit easier.

I spread the crust with cherry preserve, but you can also use your favorite fruit (apricot, orange, berries...). And for the decoration, you can copy what I did, or have fun and come up with your own design. 

Just one thing to keep in mind. It's very important, so listen up! Always bake with LOVE ... You really can taste the love in your food :) 

Happy Valentine's Day! 

Printable Recipe

Ingredients: to make an 11 in (28 cm) tart, serving 8 to 12 people

• 1 cup (150 gr) of roasted whole almonds
• 6 oz (170 gr) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup (100 gr) of sugar
• zest of one lemon
• 2 eggs (divided) on egg white will be used to  yolk
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• one pinch of salt
• 2 cups (300 gr) of all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of milk (if needed)
• 14 oz (400 gr) of cherry preserve (you can also use orange, apricot, peach or your favorite)
• 1/4 cup (30 gr) of almonds slices
• powdered sugar for decoration (optional)

Preparation time: about 30 minutes preparation, 45 minutes baking, plus one hour inactive
Directions:

1. In a food processor, mix the whole almonds until mostly grounded. Add the butter and the sugar. Process some more.

2. Add one whole egg and one egg yolk (save the egg white for later), the lemon zest, vanilla extract, a pinch of salt and the flour, and process until all combined. If the dough is a little too dry, you can add a couple of tablespoons of milk. Process until the dough comes together in a ball. I added two tablespoons in total (30 ml).

3. Divide the dough in two parts, a larger (for the crust) and smaller (to decorate the top). I suggest about 2/3 and 1/3. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about one hour.

 4. Preheat the oven to  350º F (175º C). Grease an 11 inch tart (28 cm) with butter and flour (or spray).
Remove the largest dough from the refrigerator, and roll it on a lightly floured surface to a circle of about 12 inches (30 cm) in diameter. Move the dough onto the tart pan, helping yourself with the rolling pin. Don't worry if the dough breaks, you can easily put it together with your fingers, once on the pan. Because of the almonds, the dough is a little more crumbly than your usual dough, so a little harder to move.

5. Cut the excess dough around the edges. And add little pieces if necessary. Prick the bottom with a fork. Bake for 10 minutes in the  middle part of the oven.

6. Roll out  the other (smaller) piece of dough to a circle of about 10 -11 inches. Cut out heart shape cookie. You are welcome to decorate the tart as you wish, or follow my design. I used a large and a small heart-shaped cookie cutters, which are 3 in (7.5 cm) and 1 3/8 in (3.5 cm).

Make sure to use the cutouts to bake a few cookies... so you can taste the almond crust! Delicious :)

7. Spread the cherry preserve onto the bottom of the crust. Sprinkle with the almond slices. Move the cookies carefully on top and decorate.
Beat the egg white, and brush the dough on top. This will give it a brownish, shiny look.You can also use a  whole egg (beaten) or milk. I don't like to throw away food, so I just used the left over egg white from the dough.

 

8. Bake for 30 minutes in the middle-top part of the oven, until nicely brown on top. Let it cool down a little, before removing from the pan.
Cut in slices and enjoy :)