Tis the season for decadent desserts! Imagine a bite of smooth, sweet almond swathed in fresh raspberry jam atop flaky layers of buttery piecrust. Oh yeah!

Sure, our Thanksgiving always ends with Jack’s pumpkin pie. It’s a delicious tradition we don’t skip. When we plan the big feast, one dessert never seems to be enough. Some years, the second dessert has been a caramel apple pie, a lemon meringue pie or even a chocolate layer cake. This year, I really wanted to use almond paste that I sent out in our annual shopping. It’s an ingredient I rarely use, but love so much. Many years ago, when I first discovered bakeries and baked goods, I would always go for almond croissants. The combination of the sweet, smooth almond paste and the buttery, flakey croissant were irresistible. This tart has the same elements along with an added bonus – homemade raspberry jam. Some of the jam I made this year was a freezer jam. In other words, it wasn’t cooked. The fresh berries are stirred with some sugar and pectin and put straight into the freezer. This method of making jam preserves the fresh bright flavor of the raspberries straight from the vine.

The tart starts with a buttery, flaky piecrust that is partially blind baked to keep it light and airy. The crust is brushed with jam and then covered with an almond paste mixture, which is the main event. The whole tart is sprinkled with almond slices which provide the finishing touch. What a delicious combination! We all enjoyed the beautiful and delicious addition to this year’s table. Sadly, it is now just a fond memory.

Raspberry Almond Tart

Ingredients

• pie dough for one crust
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 8 oz. almond paste, cut into small cubes
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup good quality raspberry jam
• 1/3 cup sliced almonds

Directions

1. Roll out dough to a 12-inch disk. Cover a 9 ½ inch tart pan or a 9 inch springform pan.
2. Trim off excess if using a tart pan. If using a springform pan, trim off dough 1 ½ inches up the side of the pan. The dough will shrink when baked, so make sure to extend the dough higher than you want your end product.
3. Freeze the shell for 30 minutes or until firm.
4. Place oven rack in lower third of oven. Preheat to 375° F.
5. Partially blind bake shell for 20 minutes. Shell will be done when it is pale gold and dry looking.
6. Remove pan from oven and cool on a wire rack.
7. Reduce oven temperature to 350° F.
8. In a large bowl, beat butter until smooth.
9. Add almond paste, a couple pieces at a time. Continue beating until smooth. Add more pieces and repeat beating. Continue with remaining almond paste pieces.
10. Add sugar to almond paste mixture and beat until smooth.
11. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.
12. Stir in flour.
13. Spread jam evenly on base of tart shell.
14. Spoon almond mixture atop jam. Smooth the top.
15. Sprinkle almond slices evenly over tart.
16. Bake until filling is golden and the middle is firm, 35-45 minutes.
17. Cool on wire rack.

Serve at room temperature.

Recipe adapted from The Williams-Sonoma Baking Book