Whilst there is not much work that goes into this dessert, it can be a showstopper if finished with lots of little touches. I like topping mine with crushed caramel and almond tuilles, caramelised almond spikes and toasted almond flakes. All the different elements intensify the almond flavour and make the tart look very special. If you don’t have almond syrup, use almond essence but gradually and a drop at a time so as not to overpower this otherwise delicately flavoured cream.
Ingredients (serves 3-4 as a side dish)
For the base
- 3 egg whites
- 60g sugar
- 75g almond flour
- 10g corn flour
For the cream
- 120ml full fat milk
- 80ml almond syrup
- 35g sugar
- 50g honey
- 7 egg yolks
- 8 platinum grade gelatine leaves (13g)
- 500ml double cream
- 1 lemon, zest only
To make the tart base, in a bowl, whisk the egg whites to break them up and add the sugar, whisk again to a soft meringue. In another bowl, mix the almond and corn flour and fold into the meringue using a spatula.
Transfer the base mix to a 25cm round cake tin with a loose bottom, lined with baking parchment. Bake in a preheated oven at 170 C for 15 minutes. Leave to cool in the tin.
To make the cream, soak the gelatine leaves in cold water for 10 minutes. In a saucepan heat the milk together with the almond syrup but don’t bring to the boil.
In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar and honey. Add the lemon zest and whisk to mix well. Add the hot milk to the yolks in a thin stream while whisking. Transfer the cream back to the saucepan and heat stirring continuously until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon (around 85 C). Do not over cook as the cream will curdle.
Transfer the cream to a clean bowl, add the gelatine leaves squeeze of all moisture and stir to dissolve. Leave the cream to cool down to around 35 C.
In a bowl, whisk the double cream to a thick yogurt consistency and fold into the cooled egg cream. Transfer the cream in the tin over the tart base and store in the fridge for a few hours until set. Transfer the tart onto a cake stand and serve sprinkled with toasted almond flakes or small shards of almond caramel tuille.