Almond Slice
This easy almond slice recipe features a crispy pastry base, raspberry jam layer, topped with a light almond sponge. Perfect for afternoon tea, bake sales and picnics!
Equipment
- 20 x20 cm (8" x 8") square tin
Ingredients
Pastry
- 100g (½c + ⅙c) plain flour
- 50g (1.7oz) butter cold
- 15g (⅛c) icing sugar (confectioners sugar)
- 1½-2 tablespoons cold water
Frangipane
- 100g (3.5oz) margarine or unsalted butter
- 100g (⅓c + 1½ tablespoons) caster sugar (superfine sugar)
- 100g (1c) ground almonds (almond flour, almond meal)
- 40g (¼c) plain flour
- 2 eggs size L
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon almond essence
- 5 tablespoons raspberry jam
- 30g flaked almonds
Instructions
Make the pastry
- In a medium sized mixing bowl combine the flour with icing sugar.
- Grate in the cold butter.
- Gently rub the butter in to the flour with your finger tips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
- Add 1½ tablespoons of cold water and mix, if the pastry seems a little dry add a little more water. Bring together and gently knead for a minute until it becomes smooth.
- Roll in to a ball, wrap in cling film / cling wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 200˚C fan / 220˚C / 392˚F convection / 428˚F
- Line a 20cm x 20cm (8" x 8") square tin with baking paper / baking parchment.
- Roll the pastry out between two sheets of baking paper lightly dusted with flour (the pastry can be delicate and can stick to a work surface).
- Carefully lift up the rolled out pastry with the bottom sheet of baking parchemnt and then flip upside down and lay it over the lined tin, trimming any excess and patching up any gaps as needed.
- Place in the preheated oven and bake for 7-10 minutes until the pastry is light golden.
- Take the tin out of the oven and place on rack / heat proof surface to cool slightly.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 170˚C fan / 190˚C / 338˚F convection / 374˚F
Make the frangipane sponge
- Beat the margarine and sugar together with a spoon until light and fluffy
- Add the ground almonds / almond meal, flour, and baking powder.
- Whisk the eggs and almond essence together with a fork then add to the flour and margarine and mix with a spoon to combine.
- Spoon the jam over the slightly cooled pastry base and spread out in an even layer.
- Spoon the almond sponge over the jam and then smooth out with the back of a spoon.
- Sprinkle with flaked almonds then place in to the cooler oven and bake for 25 minutes until golden on top and a skewer inserted in to the sponge comes out clean.
- Cool completely in the tin.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days or freeze up to 2 months.
Notes
The slices are generous, if serving for afternoon tea you can cut them into 12 pieces, or even 16 pieces.
Pastry: the simple pastry base is made from non salted butter, plain flour and icing sugar (confectioners sugar).
Ground almonds – also known as almond meal or almond flour. Use bleached almond flour.
Jam – raspberry jam is traditionally used, but you can use strawberry jam or mix it up with blackberry jam, peach jam, apricot jam, plum jam… they all go so well!
Margarine – I have used margarine in the almond sponge, as a nod back to this being some thing of a retro cake. You can use unsalted butter instead if you prefer.
Caster sugar – superfine sugar. These smaller sugar crystals help make a finer textured sponge. If you don’t have caster sugar you can use white sugar / granulated sugar.
Almond essence – almond essence for me, makes this a true almond bakewell slice. It adds a sweet strong hint of almond that makes the sponge taste like it should. If however you are not a fan, leave it out.
Flaked almonds – flaked almonds add a delicious crunch and extra almond flavour as they become toasted as the slice cooks in the oven, however you can top the slice with nibbed almonds, or leave off altogether.
Make the pastry using butter straight from the fridge, and grate the butter straight into the flour with a coarse grater. This helps keep it as cold as possible, which is good for making crisp pastry.
The pastry for this almond jam tart is thin and fragile – the best way to roll it out without sticking is between two sheets of baking paper. If you prefer you can roll it out and then press it in to the lined tin with your fingers.
Cook the pastry until lightly golden as this will provide a slightly crunchy base. If you undercook the pastry it can become soggy when you add the jam and sponge.
Nutrition
Calories: 319kcalCarbohydrates: 32gProtein: 5gFat: 20gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 43mgSodium: 185mgPotassium: 63mgFiber: 2gSugar: 17gVitamin A: 530IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 66mgIron: 1mg
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