Because it's easy....baking on a Sunday morning....

I love nothing more than baking on a wet , windy and dark weekend, and that is why I urge you to try the recipe here below.
It's super-easy and soo wondefully tasty, you want to bake it again and again and again.
Don't be put off by the idea that is has jam in it, as though that would be a cop- out , as it really isn't .The grounds almonds/raspberry combination is a lovely idea.
Besides, you could always use your own home-made jam if you want to ( although there really is no need! ).
I use Bonne Maman Confiture- raspberry , which is perfectly fine for the job.You will need to find a decent, rich-tasting rasberry jam.
Try it this weekend, I promise you, you won't regret baking it.
                                                         Bakewell tart
                                                           

Ingredients for the pastry:
275 gr flour
80 gr ground almonds
75 gr caster sugar
225 gr (cold) butter
3 egg yolks

How to make the pastry:
Mix the flour , the ground almonds and the sugar with the butter- rub it with your fingers till it's finely crumbled.( I suggest  you keep something near you to wipe your hands as inevitably the phone will ring at this stage , most times !).
Beat the egg yolks in a separate bowl, then add these to the flour mixture to form a firm dough/ paste.
Pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees Centigrade.
Sprinkle some flour on your worktop and roll out the dough, this should be no thicker than 2mm.
Take a 28 cm or approximately equally big pastry tin with a removable base, ( or if you want to go all pretty, get yourself a pretty earthenware one- the removable base is just easier ) , then butter it, and put the rolled out pastry in it.
This is a bit fiddly and bits make break off, but you can pat it all together so you have a nice whole pastry base.
You will now need to pre-bake the pastry before the filling goes in, otherwise , it won't cook and the dough will be  not done.So put a layer of baking paper ( or aluminium foil ) on the pastry, as if you put a sheet on a bed, let the sides curl up so it forms a little basket, and fill the basket with something to hold down the pastry so it does not puff up like a big duvet while it bakes- if you are very organised you may have some ceramic beans which are specifically for this job, but I have never bothered and usually grab what's in the cupboard and works equally well- which is dried pulses( dried white beans, flageolets, whatever you have handy ).
Fill the "basket" of baking paper  or aluminium foil  which is lying on the top of your pastry with the beans, ceramic or other wise, and bake for 25 minutes.
Take the pastry out of the oven, remove the foil or paper with the beans, and put the pastry back in again for about 5 minutes to get the pastry a bit more brown/ yellow.

Take out of the oven and start stage 2- the filling.In the meantime, turn the oven down to 150 degrees Centigrade.

 Ingredients for the filling.
200 gr rich tasting raspberry jam ( Bonnemaman for example ).
1 or 2  teaspoons vanilla sugar
300 gr butter
300 gr caster sugar
200 gr ground almonds
100 gr flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 medium eggs
3 or 4 table spoons flaked almonds

Spread the raspberry jam on the bottom of the pastry you have just baked.
Cream the butter and the sugar and vanilla sugar, then add bit by bit the ground almonds, flour, baking powder and eggs.
Mix well, then spread on top of the jam you have just put on the bottom of the pastry.This mixture should more or less fill the whole case, make sure you spread it evenly with a spatula.
Bake for 30 minutes, then take out and put the flaked almonds on the top in a random patter, just sprinkle them around on the top- then put the pastry back in and bake for another 20 minutes.

It's unbelievably good- give it a go!!Happy baking !!