Macaroon Cake Gateau Sec Aux Noisettes

100 g Flaky pastry (3 1/2 oz)

30 g Raspberries (1 oz)

110 g Sugar (3 3/4 oz)

75 g Ground hazelnuts (2 1/2 oz)

2 x Egg whites

Grated rind of 1 lemon Caster sugar Icing sugar Slivered almonds Puree the raspberries in a liquidiser with 35 g ( 1 1/4 oz) of the sugar, then pass the mixture through a tamis. Prepare a macaroon paste by mixing, with a spatula, the rest of the sugar, the ground powered nuts, the egg whites and lemon rind. Roll out the pastry to a thickness of 2-3 mm ( 1/8 in) and line an 18 cm ( 7 in) tart tin with a removable base. Prick it all over with the prongs of a fork (Put it in a refrigerator if you are not going to bake it at once). Pre-heat the oven to 220 oC/425 oF. Lightly sprinkle caster sugar over the uncooked pastry, then spread the raspberry puree over it in a smooth layer. Spread the macaroon mixture over the raspberry, smoothing the surface with the help of a spatula. Cook the cake for 40 minutes in the pre-heated oven. Reduce the heat to 180 oC/350 oF after 20 minutes if it is browning too quickly. Take it out and leave it to cool a little. Scatter the slivered almonds over the top of the cake while it is still warm. Sprinkle the cake with icing sugar then put it under hot grill for just long enough to caramelise the sugar lightly. Take care, as this takes barely a minute. Let the cake cool, then take it out of the tin. (From: Fredy Girardet, Cuisine Spontanee, M Papermac, ISBN 0 333 40957 4)