Tart with no heart

The Bakewell tart is under threat and – it’s said – climate change is to blame. The threat is from the almond supply. Yet the 2025 crop is predicted to be 3 billion pounds weight, 10 per cent more than last year. So what’s the problem? It is that 80 per cent of the world’s almonds are grown in California and future harvests are unpredictable. Big pastry manufacturers prefer to introduce more reliable substitutes, such as toasted sunflower seeds. But they’re not the same. It’s like using chicory for coffee. In Derbyshire almonds have never been a local crop, and supplies must in former centuries have run the risk of shipwreck and Barbary Pirates. For those who like the slightly bitter taste of almonds, it is worth paying more but eating Bakewell tarts less often. They won’t be fobbed off with fake frangipane.