Lemon & Blackberry Slices

Lemon and Blackberry Slices
A layer of lemon pastry, a layer of jam, a layer of frangipane with seasonal blackberries stuffed all over it, not forgetting a generous sprinkling of delicious crunchy almonds.

These slices are light yet have just the right amount of decadence to fill that "I need cake" hole. They'll also fill your house with a wonderful lemony scent.

...Now my husband always complains that I put too many nuts on my cakes, but I just can't get enough of them! You can make it as nutty or as un-nutty as your taste buds require.

Ingredients

For the base:
175g plain flour
1/4tsp salt
50g icing sugar
100g unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
Zest of 1 large lemon
1 egg yolk
1 1/2tsp lemon juice

For the Filling:
125g unsalted butter at room temperature
125g golden caster sugar
Zest of 2 lemons
2 large eggs
25g self-raising flour
175g ground almonds
150g fruit jam, blackberry if you have it
200g blackberries
40g flaked almond, lightly toasted

Preheat the oven to 180C or 160C for fan ovens. For the base, sift the flour, icing sugar and salt into a bowl then rub the butter and lemon zest in until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the lemon juice and egg yolk until it starts to form a ball. Knead it with your hands until the pastry is smooth.

Grease and line a 21cmx30cm baking tin. Roll out the pastry to the exact same rectangular size then lay it in the bottom of the tin. Prick it all over with a fork then put in the fridge to cool for 15 minutes. Bake it blind for 15 minutes then leave to cool a little.

Meanwhile, make the filling. Cream the butter & sugar together with the lemon zest until pale and fluffy, then add in the eggs one at a time. Gently fold in the flour and ground almonds.

Spread the jam over the pastry base, followed by the almond filling. Gently press the blackberries into the mixture evenly, making sure that each slice is going to get a good amount of berries in it.

Lemon and Blackberry Slices
Bake it for 10 minutes, then quickly give it a good scattering of toasted almonds all over the top, before returning it to the oven for a further 35 minutes or until golden brown on top. Leave it to cool, slice, share (yes you heard me, share!).

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