Speculaas Tart With Almond Filling

Total Time: 1 hr 30 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 cups blanched slivered almonds (about 6 ounces)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 teaspoon almond extract
• powdered sugar
• apricot preserves

Recipe

• 1 for filling:.
• 2 blend first 8 ingredients in processor until nuts are finely chopped.
• 3 transfer to small bowl.
• 4 cover; chill at least 2 hours and up to 2 days.
• 5 for dough:.
• 6 sift first 6 ingredients into medium bowl.
• 7 using electric mixer, beat butter and sugar in large bowl until blended; beat in egg.
• 8 add flour mixture and beat until moist clumps form.
• 9 gather dough into ball; divide into 2 pieces, 1 slightly larger than the other. flatten dough into disks; wrap and chill at least 2 hours. (can be made 2 days ahead; keep chilled. soften slightly before rolling.).
• 10 preheat oven to 325°f
• 11 butter 9-inch-diameter springform pan.
• 12 roll out larger dough piece on lightly floured surface to 13-inch round. transfer to pan and press gently over bottom and up sides, pressing any tears together.
• 13 spread filling in dough.
• 14 trim dough on sides to 1/2 inch above level of filling.
• 15 fold dough in over filling.
• 16 roll out second dough disk on lightly floured surface to 12- to 13-inch round.
• 17 using bottom of cake pan as aid, cut out 9-inch-diameter round of dough. slide dough round onto plate and freeze 5 minutes to firm. (reserve dough scraps for cookies.)
• 18 place chilled dough round on tart; press to adhere and seal edges.
• 19 bake tart until crust is brown, about 50 minutes.
• 20 remove sides of springform pan; cool tart completely on pan bottom. maintain oven temperature.
• 21 line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• 22 roll out dough scraps on lightly floured surface to scant 1/4-inch thickness.
• 23 using 2-inch gingerbread-man cutter, cut out cookies.
• 24 transfer cutouts to prepared sheets. repeat, using all of dough.
• 25 bake cookies until golden, about 8 minutes. cool cookies on sheets. (tart and cookies can be made ahead; cover and store at room temperature 1 day or refrigerate up to 3 days.).
• 26 sift powdered sugar over top of tart.
• 27 place small dab of preserves on back of 1 cookie; place at top edge of tart; repeat with more cookies, forming border around tart.
• 28 transfer tart to platter.
• 29 let stand at room temperature at least 1 hour.