Mix in cold butter until you have a sandy texture.
Add in a beaten egg and quickly bring the mix together in a dough working quick but gently.
Once a dough ball has formed, flatten out slightly as this would make the rolling out easier later. Cover and let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Lightly flour a work surface and roll out the dough into a large round that would cover a 28cm/11 inch tart tin. The thickness is about 3mm. Don't stress too much though just get it in the form and press it around a bit making sure there are no thin or broken parts. I always roll out a thin coil of dough and press it into the bottom rim of the baking form. This reinforces the part where the base meets the walls of the crust.
Carefully press the rolled out dough into the baking form and trim of the overhanging edges.
Poke some holes in the base of the dough with a fork.
Place a parchment paper filled with raw beans or rice into the centre. This is called blind baking. It's to ensure the crust is fully cooked and crispy before the filling gets cooked.
Heat the oven to 160°C or 320°F. At this point place your tin with raw dough into the fridge or freezer for 15 minutes. Always cook pastry when well chilled. This ensures the butter does not leak out before the pastry cooks. If this happens the gluten in the flour pulls together and you end up with an oily chewy crust.
Blind bake with the beans for 20 minutes at 160°C or 330°F. Remove the beans, brush the crust with a bit of egg white. Bake a further 5 minutes open without the beans at 140°C or 284°F.
Remove the baked crust and let it fully chill down keeping it in its tin. We will bake the cherry tart in the tin so follow this step carefully.
For the filling
Cream the butter and sugar together making sure it's homogenous and evenly mixed.
Sift the dry ingredients and mix into the butter mix. Again, making sure it's well mixed.
Beat the eggs, brandy and zest together. Add to the almond mix in increments mixing through well and making sure it's evenly mixed.
When nice and smooth, cover and place into the fridge for 30 minutes while you remove the pips from the cherries.
Inspect cherries for severe blemishes and spoilage. Discard what you don't like. Remove the stalks and pips/stones, keeping the cherries as intact as possible.
Baking the tart
Heat the oven to 180°C or 365°F.
Put the frangipane filling into the tart shell. Making sure it's evenly distributed.
Press the cherries into the frangipane. Also, making sure they are evenly placed but random. If some of the cherry tops get covered just scrape off the frangipane with the back of a knife.
Bake for 40 minutes until golden brown and cooked in the centre.
The internal temperature of the cherry tart should read above 90°C or 194°F.
When cooked, remove from the oven and cool down in the tin once more. Do not try and lift it out. Otherwise, tears will follow)
When cool. Place a plate on top and quickly flip upside down. Now, your tart faces the wrong way. Place another plate on top and flip again. Serve.
Use any other fruit if you wish when it's at the height or towards the end of the season. Think apricots, figs, pears, apples, and blueberries. They all make a great frangipane tart. Follow the same steps as for this cherry tart.
You could use another nut meal. Walnut meal goes great with pears and figs while hazelnut goes well with apples and blueberries good with pistachio. When using pistachio meal blackberries are also great.
The pastry crust can also be modified by using other combinations of flours and seed meals. You could substitute the wholemeal flour for rye flour, or ancient grain flours. The flax meal can be substituted for buckwheat flour or ground chia seeds.
You could also make a Bakewell tart by spreading a thin layer of your jam of choice onto the base before adding the frangipane and fruit before baking as usual.
It will keep in the fridge stored airtight for 4 days. Can also be frozen for up to 3 months.