This fabulous tart will definitely stand out from the crowd this Christmas.

With a crisp puff pastry base, boozy fruity mincemeat (I do have a homemade recipe for this, but to make life stress free you can use a shop bought jar of mincemeat…

…just add a little more alcohol such as brandy or ameretto), a sweet spongey almond frangipan topping, buttery soft pears and crunchy flaked almonds – it’s basically a slice of heaven!

Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream (or frozen yogurt), pouring cream and of course beautiful festive flowers…

Ingredients

• 375g ready made puff pastry
• 1/2 jar luxury mincemeat
• 125 butter, softened
• 125 caster sugar
• 2 medium egg
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 100g ground almonds
• 80g raising flour
• 3 peeled pears with core removed
• 30g toasted flaked almonds

Method

1. Set the oven to 200°C (400°F, gas mark 6). Unroll the pastry and use it to line the round tin. Use scissors to trim the down the pastry to the same height as the side of the tin.
2. Spread a layer of mincemeat on the base. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in the egg. Fold in the ground almonds, flour, lemon zest and juice. Spoon the mixture over the lemon curd then spread it evenly. Strew with almonds.
3. Bake for 35 minutes, near the bottom of the oven, until golden. Cool for 5 minutes in the tin then turn out to serve warm with an ice cream of your choice.