cherry, rose & almond tarts

I’ve been realizing how easy it is for some friendships to start to fade and erode. Maybe it’s because I usually seem to make friends through brute exposure (once I’ve said “hello” to someone 470 times, I probably start to consider them a friend and I certainly hope they reciprocate a bit as well), but after not seeing someone for a while, sometimes things change.

One of the most disappointing ways is when I somehow forget that we used to be friends. A while back I saw someone and we talked a bit and it was only after we parted ways that I realized that we use to be Rather Good Friends. We texted each other occasionally, even when I only had my ridiculously cheap prepaid phone and it took me at least a minute to type “hello.” We had talked in classes and done school work together.  But when I saw them and spoke to them, I was thinking of them as an acquaintance. One that I was very fond of, and veering more on the friend-acquaintance end of the spectrum, but I had completely forgotten that we used to get along so well.

Things like this remind me that I need to take initiative to keep in touch and occasionally contact others (I prefer to placidly wait, myself). Some friendships just require more effort than others to maintain.

It was a lot easier when everyone I knew was in the same class, or at the very least, in the same city, but now people have started to spread out. It makes things a bit more complicated…particularly when there are close friends that you might meet on your own, and then there are only sort-of friends who you might only meet in groups. In the end you can’t keep up with everyone, and at least not all the time.And so sometimes I might stay in contact and sometimes I might not. And some friendships will fade. And for some it’s as though you can just pick up where you left off and no time has passed at all.

This post was originally a cherry, rosemary and saskatoon berry tart (a friend suggested the combo!) but I’ve since switched the recipe to another cherry tart that I’ve been really enjoying lately: these cherry, rose and almond tarts.

In many ways this is a standard almond tart, but with a few little differences that I really love.

One: almond cream/frangipane is essentially an almond cake, and like cakes, it is wonderfully absorbent. I soak the almond cream with a mixture of amaretto and rosewater (a combo I first played with in this ice cream) while compressing it a bit with the pastry brush. All together this makes the almond layer dense and moist, rather like a chunk of marzipan. (In an earlier batch I spread a spoonful of speculoos butter on the bottom of each tart for fun, but I ended up cutting from the later versions as it added unnecessary sweetness.)

Two: both a cooked and fresh cherry component. On top of the almond cream goes a quick compote/”jam” which provides a base in which to nestle a crown of fresh cherries. I used the same sort of arrangement as in this chocolate hazelnut and cherry tart, but on a miniature scale.

• Servings: four 3-inch tarts
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special equipment: four 3″ diameter tart rings 1″ high (I use metal egg rings as they’re less expensive than buying actual tart rings)

tart shells

• 190g all-purpose flour (optionally half whole wheat)
• 25g icing sugar
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 56g cold butter, cut into small cubes
• 1 large egg

almond cream

• 25g butter
• 25g granulated sugar
• pinch salt
• 30g ground almonds
• 25g egg
• 8g flour
• 1 tsp rose water (depending on strength)
• 1/4 tsp almond extract

cherry jam

• 130g cherries, pitted and chopped
• 1 tbsp kirsch

assembly

• 1 tbsp amaretto
• 1/2 tsp rosewater
• ~24-30 cherries, depending on size

tart shells

Place the flour, icing sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles very fine crumbs. Add the egg and process until the dough comes together into a ball.

Roll out the dough between two pieces of parchment paper until 3mm thick. Chill completely.

Set four 3″ tart rings on a parchment-lined tray. Refer to this page for more guidance and photos on lining tart rings (here I used “method 2” – lining the bottom first). Use the tart rings to cut bases from the dough. Transfer the tart ring and the circle of dough back to the prepared tray.

Gather the dough and roll out until 3mm thick again. Chill. This time, cut the dough into strips at least 1″ wide. Use the strip to line the sides of the tart tin, pressing the ends together to seal. Use a knife to trim any excess height. Place the lined tart rings back into the fridge to chill.

Preheat the oven to 375F. Dock the bases of the chilled tart shells with a fork. Bake for about 12 minutes or until they appear dry, but not browned – you’ll be baking them more with the filling. Let cool.

almond cream

Cream together the butter, sugar and salt until light. Mix in the ground almonds, then beat in the egg. Follow with the flour, and lastly the rosewater and almond extract.

cherry jam

Place the cherries and kirsch in a small saucepan and cook together over medium heat until the cherries are cooked through and soft. Pulse with an immersion blender to make a smoother, but still chunky, jam.

assembly

Preheat the oven to 375F.

Divide the almond cream amongst the four tart shells and spread into an even layer. The amount should fill each tart shell to a bit over halfway. Bake for about 20 minutes, rotating halfway through baking, or until the filling is golden brown.

Combine the 1 tbsp amaretto and 1/2 tsp rosewater in a small bowl and brush overtop of the almond cream while it is still hot. If the middle of the almond cream has risen, tamp it down with the brush so it is flat across and there is about a 1/4″ or so of height left to fill in with the jam. Let tarts cool.

Lastly, add the jam and cherries. Spread a thin layer of jam right up to the top of tart shell. Cut each cherry in half, like you would a clingfree peach or nectarine – use a small knife to cut the cherry around the pit and then twist the two halves to split them. Pry the pit out of the half that hangs onto it. Arrange the cherry halves in a circle around the circumference of the tart and place a cherry half cut-side upright in the very middle (on top of another slide of cherry if it needs additional height to be flush with the ring of arranged cherries).

Update notes: Recipe and photos updated Aug 2023. If you’re wondering why there are comments on rosemary and saskatoon berries, that was the old cherry almond tart!