Cherry Frangipane Tart

by The Seattle Times - Wednesday, June 17th --By David Tanis The New York Times

Makes 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

For the tart dough:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt
6 Tbsp chilled unsalted butter, in small pieces
1 egg yolk beaten with 2 teaspoons water

For the filling:
1 cup sliced natural (raw) almonds, more for sprinkling
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
1 tsp almond extract
12 oz pitted cherries (about 1¾ cups)
Powdered sugar, for dusting

Instructions

1. Make the tart dough: Combine flour, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. Work in butter thoroughly. Stir in egg yolk mixture and knead briefly until dough is smooth, then form into a flat disk.
2. Roll dough to a large circle and lay it in a 10-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Press in well (patch any cracks with extra dough). Refrigerate or freeze for 1 hour.
3. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Blind bake tart shell until lightly browned, about 15 minutes. (You do not need to cover the shell or use pie weights.)
4. Meanwhile, make the filling: Put almonds, flour and sugar in work bowl of food processor and grind to a rough powder. Add butter and pulse until well incorporated. Add eggs and almond extract and process until smooth and creamy, about two minutes. (Alternatively, use ground almonds and make batter with a mixer instead.)
5. Pour almond batter into prebaked shell and smooth with a spatula. Press cherries into batter in a single layer. Sprinkle with a handful of sliced almonds. Lower oven temperature to 375 degrees and bake until golden, 30 to 40 minutes. (An inserted skewer should come out clean.) Cool on a rack and remove outer rim of tart pan. Place tart on a serving dish and dust with powdered sugar.