Summertime, and the livin’ is easy – and so is the wonderful summer fruit at this time of year. Apologies to my friends overseas who are slogging it out in the snow and cold of winter; something to look forward to for you when the season changes?

I make this Raspberry & Almond Slice often and with a punnet of fresh raspberries begging to be eaten, it was time to roll out this old favourite this week.

Super easy, and quick to put together, especially when you have a pack of ready-rolled Pastry in the freezer – my recipe for making your own sweet shortcrust pastry below if you don’t.

Ingredients:

• 1 sheet sweet short pastry, thawed
• 75grams
• 1/4 cup castor sugar
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup ground almonds
• 1 cup fresh raspberries (works well with frozen too)

Use pastry to line a 34 x 10cm flan tin. Blind bake in a pre-heated oven (180°C fan forced/200°C conventional oven) for 10 minutes.

Remove from the oven and remove dry filling. Bake a further 5 minutes and them remove from the oven.

Reduce the oven temperature to 170°C/190°C.

Cream butter and Sugar until light in colour. Stir in the almonds flour and egg, is until smooth.

Spread mixture into the prepared flan tin. Place raspberries into the mixture.

Bake for 20 minutes or until set and golden in colour.

Allow to cool in the tin before removing to cut and serve dusted with icing sugar.

Blind Baking

Baking blind (sometimes called pre-baking) is the process of baking a pie crust or other pastry without the filling. Blind baking a pie crust is necessary when it will be filled with an unbaked filling (such as with pudding or cream pies), in which case the crust must be fully baked.

Line a lightly greased pan with the pastry, trimming the excess the pastry. Place a sheet of Baking paper onto the pastry case, and 2/3 fill with dry rice. I have baking beans that are made of clay – rice or beans will do the job for you though so you don’t have to buy these special ones

Bake for 10 minutes, remove baking paper and whatever you have used to weight the paper – be careful the filling will be very hot! Bake a further 5-10 minutes, then you are ready to fill the case.

Sweet Shortcrust Pastry

2 cups standard flour; 150g soft butter; 1/2 cup sugar; 2 egg yolks; 1 tablespoon water

1. Sift the flour into mixing bowl, and drop in the softened butter cut into small pieces.
2. Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
3. Stir in the sugar followed by the egg yolks – add the water if the mix seems too dry.
4. Mix quickly to a stiff dough, using a table knife, knead lightly until smooth and then shape into a rectangular block. Wrap well and chill for an hour before using.

Happy ‘tarting?’xx

Raspberry and Almond Slice