Fig and almond tart with honey sauce

Serves 10

Ingredients

• 240g (8oz) unsalted butter
• 240g (8oz) golden caster sugar
• 240g (8oz) ground almonds
• 3 eggs lightly beaten
• 5 green or black figs, quartered (and peeled if the skin is tough)

For the sweet pastry

• 60g (2oz) icing sugar
• 270g (9oz) plain flour
• 135g (4½oz) softened unsalted butter
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1-1½ tbsp double cream

For the honey sauce

• 240g (8oz) honey
• The juice of 2 lemons
• 2 capfuls of mead (optional)

Method

1. You can make sweet pastry using a light, cool touch with your fingers, but it is quicker and even better made in a food processor. Put the icing, sugar, flour and a pinch of salt in the processor and whizzfor a few seconds. Add the butter with the egg yolk and enough cream to form a paste when the mixture is whizzed briefly. Do not overwork the paste.
2. Remove from the processor, place on a well floured board and lightly work into a ball, then roll to about 5mm (1/4 in) thick. The pastry will be very soft. Lift it by wrapping it around the rolling pin, then use to line a 28 cm (11in) tart tin. Don't worry if it tears; just patch it with spare pieces of pastry. Chill for half an hour.
3. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6.
4. Prick the base of the pastry randomly with a fork, cover with greaseproof paper and fill with dry rice or beans to prevent bubbling up. Bake for about 15-20 minutes, until the edges are crisp and the base dry. You may want to lift away the paper and beans for the last five minutes of cooking so the base can dry out.
5. Remove the pastry case from the oven and leave to cool. Meanwhile, make the frangipane. Melt the butter and sugar together over a low heat, stirring with a spoon or whisk, then cook for 2-3 minutes, until the mixture has a golden fudge consistency.
6. Remove from the heat, add the ground almonds and the beaten eggs and stir until well combined. Turn the oven down to 190C/375/gas mark 5. Pour the almond mixture into the pase, then drop the fig quarters on to it evenly spaced. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the frangipane is just firm and slightly puffed. Warm the honey with the lemon and mead and pour over the tart as you serve.

This recipe is by Rose Prince, and is reproduced with kind permission of The Telegraph Magazine.

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