Portuguese Caramelised Almond Tart {Tarte de Amendoa}

This Portuguese caramelised almond tart is so incredibly good - sweet and crunchy with crispy pastry and a buttery, rich caramelised almond filling. It’s surprisingly easy to make with a few simple ingredients - it takes a little bit of effort, but it’s not difficult.

Making a pastry case from scratch can be a bit of a faff - if you can’t be bothered then you can buy a ready made pastry case and just make the almond filling. It will be just as delicious. Please don’t let making pastry put you off making this gorgeous tart!

This Portuguese almond tart tastes great on it’s own with a coffee - I rarely serve it with anything. If you did want to make it a bit more fancy you could dust it with icing sugar and serve it slightly warm with some berries and crème fraîche.

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Portuguese Style Caramelised Almond Tart {Tarte de Amendoa}

• Makes: 8 slices

• Hands on time: 30-35 minutes

• Cooking time: 30-35 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

For the pastry:

• 250g plain flour, plus extra for sprinkling

• 40g icing sugar

• 125g chilled unsalted butter

• 1 medium egg, whisked

• Splash of cold milk

For the caramelised almond filling:

• 175g flaked almonds

• 50ml whole milk

• 100g unsalted butter

• 100g granulated sugar

METHOD:

1. Start by making the pastry. Sift the flour and icing sugar together into a large bowl. Coarsely grate the butter into the flour and then rub with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg and just enough cold milk to make a smooth dough. Roll the pastry to the thickness of a pound coin with a rolling pin. Line a 23cm tin with the pastry and trim the edges to make a 2cm overlap. Prick the base with a fork and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

2. While the pastry case is chilling, pre-heat the oven to 190 C / 170 fan / gas mark 5.

3. Remove the pastry-lined tin from the fridge and carefully roll over the top of the tin with the rolling pin to trim the excess pastry edges (see pictures below for more details). Take a piece of baking paper, scrunch it up, then open it up again. Place it on top of the pastry case and then fill the paper with ceramic beads (or dry rice). Blind bake for 10 minutes, then remove the beads and the paper and blind bake for a further 5 minutes to just dry out the base of the pastry case. When the pastry case is cooked, remove from the oven and leave to one side while you make the filling, leaving the oven on.

4. Put the almonds into a dry frying pan and toast for a few minutes, stirring frequently, to ensure they don’t burn. Keep an eye on them constantly as they catch very easily. Tip the toasted nuts into a bowl.

5. Put the milk, butter and sugar in the pan and stir over a low heat until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Then turn up the hear and simmer for a couple of minutes until the mixture has thickened keeping an eye on it constantly.

6. Tip the toasted almonds into the pan and stir well to combine. Immediately scrape the the almond mixture into the pastry case and quickly spread it around to form an even layer of almonds. Work quickly because it will stiffen as it cools.

7. Return the filled pastry case to the oven and bake for around 15 minutes until bubbling and golden. Watch it closely towards the end as it can colour very quickly. Leave to cool before cutting into slices.