Congress Tarts
One of my most favourite things that Granny made. The almond essence with raspberry jam and the crusty sugar topping was like nothing I’d ever tasted before.
Makes 12
Ingredients
Pastry
- 230g plain flour
- 20g icing sugar
- 130g salted butter
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2 tablespoons water
Filling
- Raspberry jam
Topping
- 100g ground almonds
- 3 egg whites
- 1 teaspoon almond essence
- 170g caster sugar
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan).
- Make the pastry: In a large bowl, mix the flour and icing sugar. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg and water, then mix into a dough. Wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
- Make the topping: Whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks (don’t overbeat). Gently fold in the sugar, ground almonds, and almond essence. Whisk again until fully combined.
- Grease a 12-hole bun tray.
- On a floured surface, roll out the chilled pastry to around ½ cm thick. Cut 12 round bases with a pastry cutter.
- Place the pastry rounds into the bun tray. Spoon 1 teaspoon of raspberry jam into each.
- Top with 1 tablespoon of the almond mixture, being careful not to overfill as it will rise in the oven.
- (Optional) Roll out leftover pastry and cut thin strips to decorate the tops with crosses.
- (Optional) Sprinkle with flaked almonds for extra crunch.
- Bake at 180°C for 25–30 minutes or until golden and set.