Best cake ever! Even if it turns out an absolute mess, it’ll still be the best thing you’ve ever made

For the pastry:

• 200g Plain Flour
• 100g cold butter (salted or unsalted)
• 2 free range egg yolks
• 4 tsp Icing Sugar
• pinch of salt
• or cheat and buy a readymade pastry case

 For the cake:

• 3 free range eggs, beaten
• 100g soft butter
• 125g caster sugar
• 1 tsp almond extract (or essence if it’s the only thing you can find)
• 150g ground almonds
• 5-6 tbsp cherry jam (or strawberry/raspberry if you can’t get any)

 Decoration:

• 100g icing sugar
• A little water
• Glacé cherries

1. Preheat oven to 190c and line a 20cm tart tin
2. For the pastry, place the flour, icing sugar, butter and salt into a food processor and mix until you get a fine breadcrumb. If you don’t have a food processor, rub cubes of cold butter between your fingers* with the flour, salt and icing sugar until it turns to breadcrumbs
3. Beat the egg yolks and add to the breadcrumbs. Mix until it combines and forms a firm but not sticky ball. If your mixture gets too sticky, add some flour, if too dry and doesn’t combine add a little water. Try not to add to much water at this stage as your pastry will end up rubbery
4. Roll the pastry into a ball, wrap in a bag or in cling film, and put into the fridge for 20 minutes
5. Lightly flour your work surface and rolling pin and roll out the pastry until quite thin but not thin enough to tear (about 3mm). Gently place in the tin. Trim the overhanging edges and use a ball of leftover pastry to push the pastry into the corners
6. Line the pastry with parchment/baking paper, fill with baking beans/rice, put into the oven and bake for 15 minutes
7. Remove and turn the temperature down to 180^oC
8. Remove the baking beans and parchment and spread the jam over the bottom and set aside
9. Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy
10. Add the eggs a little at a time, add the ground almonds and almond extract and pour the mixture on top of the pastry
11. Return to the oven for 30 minutes until golden and firm
12. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes in the tin before cooling on a cooling rack
13. When the cake is completely cool, mix the icing sugar in a bowl with a teaspoonful of water at a time while stirring – the consistency is right when the icing is firm enough to not drip off the spoon but soft enough to not “rip” when spread
14. Spread the icing evenly over the cake and decorate with the glacé cherries

Alternatively you can sprinkle the cake mixture with flaked almonds before baking and lightly dust with icing sugar when cool.

*if you have hot hands, a pair of rubber gloves helps to slow the butter melting