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1
To make the pastry, put the butter, flour, icing sugar and egg yolks in the food processor and pulse for a few minutes until a soft dough is formed.
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2
Tip out onto a large piece of cling film, form into a rough ball then cover with the cling film, squashing and flattening it a little so it cools evenly in the fridge.
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3
Leave it to rest in the fridge for an hour or so.
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4
Lightly flour a surface and roll the pastry out as thinly as possible.
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5
Lay the pastry over the tart tin, pressing gently with your fingers so that it fits the sides, then trim the edges and put back in the fridge for a further 30 minutes (you may have extra pastry left over for this size tart tin) After 30 minutes take the tart tin out of the fridge and cover with grease proof paper, large enough to cover the base and come up the sides of the tin, then tip in dried beans or pulses, enough to cover the bottom.
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6
Bake blind in the oven for 15 - 20 minutes until a light golden colour, (It is going to be cooked again so should not be too brown).
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7
Take out of the oven and remove the paper and beans.
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8
Leave to cool on a wire rack.
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9
Turn the oven down to 180C (160C fan) Gas 4.
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10
For the filling: blitz the almonds in the food processor until they form coarse crumbs.
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11
pour into a bowl.
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12
Into the food processor, cream the butter and sugar together.
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13
Split the vanilla bean in half lengthways and scrape out the seeds with a spoon then add to the butter and sugar.
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14
Crack the eggs into the mixture and add the almonds, blitz again briefly to combine all the ingredients but retaining some texture in the almonds then pour into the pastry case.
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15
Evenly distribute the cherries over the top - they will sink into the mixture as it cooks.
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16
Bake in the oven for 30 - 35 minutes, the top should be golden and the filling cooked through.
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17
Check by piercing with a skewer, it should come out clean.
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18
Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin before turning out.
