This was meant to be a ‘Thank You’ pie I was planning to give to a friend. However, since I had never made it before, I decided to test it first.

I’d be lying if I said this pie is easy to make. It’s not and I probably won’t be making it again very soon. But I will be making it again at some point because it’s absolutely delicious. It has the finest shortcrust and the most indulging frangipane ever, that pairs so well with the sweetness of the fruit and the crispiness of the apricot glaze.

This pie took a while to make. First, there was the case of the stolen cherries, but it was quickly solved, as I discovered my daughter had eaten all of them. Then I made the shortcrust dough and left it in the fridge while I went out to buy some more cherries (not in season, I know, and horribly expensive, but I was simply fixated on making this pie). Upon returning, I rolled and baked the dough, which took about an hour. Since I had leftover dough and my daughter wanted to participate, we also made three individual tarts. While the crust was baking, I made the frangipane, which is in fact quite easy to make. After the crust completely cooled (which took a while), I assembled the tart and baked it for another good 45 minutes, along with the smaller ones, which took a bit less to cook. We waited for them to cool off completely and eventually, thoroughly enjoyed a slice of hard-earned goodness.

If you decide to make this pie, you need to be careful when baking it, as the frangipane needs to be set for it to be ready, which might take a while, thus the crust could burn; you’ll need to carefully watch and cover it with tin foil if it turns golden-brown.

The recipe is adapted from “Cherry, Mountain Peach and Almond Tart”, featured in Lily Vanilli’s Sweet Tooth Cookbook

For the Shortcrust:

225g/2 cups plain flour

A pinch of salt

115g/1 stick unsalted water, cubed and refrigerated

4 Tbsp ice cold water

Chill the mixing bowl of your stand mixer and the correct pastry attachment in the fridge for 30 minutes. Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl, add the butter, cover with a plate and transfer to the freezer for 10 minutes. Transfer to your stand mixer (or food processor) and mix it until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the water in a slow and steady stream until the dough comes together. Use it immediately or shape into a ball, wrap in clingfilm and store in the fridge for up to three days.

For the Frangipane (you will only use half for the pie):

230g/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

230g/1 cup golden unrefined caster sugar

230g/2 1/3 cups ground almonds

3 eggs

50g/ 1/2 cup plain flour, sifted

Finely grated zest of 1 orange

Beat the butter and sugar for approximately 3 minutes on high speed. Beat in the ground almonds, then the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Then, beat in the flour and the orange zest

Assembling and Baking the Tart:

1 batch Shortcrust

Egg wash: 1 egg yolk lightly beaten with 25ml/1 1/2 Tblsp heavy cream

3 ripe, but not too soft peaches

8-10 cherries, pitted but with stems left on

Handful of flaked almonds

2 Tblsp apricot jam

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F fan assisted.

Roll out pastry to 5mm/0.2in, place in a buttered tart tin and refrigerate for around 30 minutes. Line, weigh down with beans and blind bake on a baking tray for 15 minutes. Remove the beans, prick the base with a fork and bake for another 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, brush all over with22q a thin layer of egg wash and return to the oven for 2 minutes to seal. Remove and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Spoon in the half of the batch of frangipane and level to the edges. Press in the peaches all around the tart. Scatter with the cherries, stalks sticking out and sprinkle with the flaked almonds.

Bake for 30-45 minutes, depending on your oven, until the frangipane is baked through and a skewer comes out clean.

To make the glaze, mix the apricot jam with a few drops of water in a heavy-bottomed pan and heat over medium heat until runny, but not bubbling hot. Brush the glaze over the tart as soon as it comes out of the oven. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. And then, enjoy!