Speculaas Tart With Almond Filling - cooking recipe

Ingredients

Dough
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
Filling
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

Preparation

For filling:.
Blend first 8 ingredients in processor until nuts are finely chopped.
Transfer to small bowl.
Cover; chill at least 2 hours and up to 2 days.
For dough:.
Sift first 6 ingredients into medium bowl.
Using electric mixer, beat butter and sugar in large bowl until blended; beat in egg.
Add flour mixture and beat until moist clumps form.
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.).
Preheat oven to 325\u00b0F
Butter 9-inch-diameter springform pan.
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.
Spread filling in dough.
Trim dough on sides to 1/2 inch above level of filling.
Fold dough in over filling.
Roll out second dough disk on lightly floured surface to 12- to 13-inch round.
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.)
Place chilled dough round on tart; press to adhere and seal edges.
Bake tart until crust is brown, about 50 minutes.
Remove sides of springform pan; cool tart completely on pan bottom. Maintain oven temperature.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Roll out dough scraps on lightly floured surface to scant 1/4-inch thickness.
Using 2-inch gingerbread-man cutter, cut out cookies.
Transfer cutouts to prepared sheets. Repeat, using all of dough.
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.).
Sift powdered sugar over top of tart.
Place small dab of preserves on back of 1 cookie; place at top edge of tart; repeat with more cookies, forming border around tart.
Transfer tart to platter.
Let stand at room temperature at least 1 hour.