Prune and Almond Tart with Raspberry Jam

I have made this super simple recipe a few times now, and it always seems to blow people away. Unfortunately I can't take credit for it, as it was in one of my mum's old cookbooks. Hope you like it!

Ingredients (serves 8)

for the frangipane -

225g unsalted butter

225g caster sugar

175g ground almonds

50g plain flour

4 eggs

4tbsp brandy

for the tart - 

200g shortcrust pastry

2 tbsp raspberry jam

225g soft pitted prunes

10g flaked almonds

frangipane mix (above)

1. Firstly, pre heat the oven to 180°c. Cream the butter and sugar in a mixer to make the frangipane, until almost white. In a separate bowl, mix the flour and ground almonds. Add one egg to the butter and sugar, one at a time, with a tbsp of ground almond and flour mix. Once all the eggs have been added, drizzle in the brandy and continue to add the rest of the ground almond and flour mix.

2. Grease a 9-10" flan dish with a little butter, roll out the pastry and fill the dish. Spread the raspberry jam over the bottom and then pour in the frangipane mix. Finish by sitting the prunes on the top.

3. Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes. Half way through cooking, sprinkle the frangipane with almond flakes and return it to the oven.

Allow to cool before serving. Try it with yoghurt, cream or ice cream.

Any leftover pastry or frangipane (depending on the size of your dish) can be used to make a smaller frangipane.

Easter Energy Balls

Happy Easter everyone! This is a few days late but we've had a busy weekend. I wanted to make a healthy alternative to Easter eggs as I knew we would be eating far too much chocolate over the Easter break. I had previously been put off by energy ball recipes that add honey, or a similar substitute. Knowing that dried fruit contains lots of natural sugar and goodness, I decided that no extra sweetener should be added, and winged my ingredients. Great as a snack or energy boost, it's amazing what you can make from very little.

Ingredients (makes 30 balls)

1st batch -

- 50g almonds

- 70g dates

- 80g prunes

2nd batch - 

- 100g prunes
- 70g figs
- 30g flaxseed (check out my flaxseed post to make your own)
- 10g chocolate (optional)

- desiccated coconut to coat

1. For the first batch, start by whizzing up the almonds in a food processor until they resemble large breadcrumbs. Then add the prunes and dates. Blitz the mix for a minute or so and then shape it into small balls.

2. For the second batch, place all the ingredients in the food processor and mix until smooth and combined. Using your hands, roll the mixture into small balls.

3. Finally, place a tbsp of desiccated coconut onto a plate and coat some of the balls in it by rolling them on the plate.  

Now to decorate...