Cherry Bakewell slices

If you don’t have the time or inclination to make your own pastry, use 500g ready-made sweet pastry instead.

MAKES 14 SLICES PREP 30min, plus chilling and cooling COOK about 50min

• 200g cherry jam

• 200g butter, very soft

• 200g caster sugar

• 4 medium eggs

• Finely grated zest 1/2 lemon

• 1/2tsp almond extract

• 75g self-raising flour

• 125g ground almonds

• 1/2tsp baking powder

• 25g flaked almonds

• Icing sugar, to dust

FOR THE PASTRY

• 255g white spelt flour, plus extra to dust

• 150g butter, chilled and cubed

• 11/2tbsp caster sugar

• 1 medium egg yolk, mixed with 2tbsp cold water

1 First make the pastry. Rub flour and butter together in a bowl with your fingertips, until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Alternatively, blitz in a food processor and transfer to a bowl. Stir in the sugar. Stir in enough of the egg mixture with a cutlery knife until it clumps, adding a drop more cold water if needed. Bring together into a ball and knead lightly until smooth. Flatten into a disc, wrap well and chill for 20min.

2 On a lightly floured surface, roll out pastry and use to line a 23 x 30cm traybake tin and trim edges to neaten. Don’t worry if the pastry tears, as you can patch up any holes with leftover pieces of the dough. Prick base all over with a fork. Chill until firm, or pop in the freezer for 10min to speed things up.

3 Preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fan) mark 6 and put a baking sheet inside to heat up. Line pastry with a piece of crumpled baking parchment and fill with baking beans, mounding them up towards the sides of the tin. Put the tin on the heated baking sheet and bake for 10-12min until the pastry sides have set. Carefully remove parchment and beans, and return to oven for about

5min until the base feels dry and sandy to the touch. Remove and cool (still in tin). Reduce oven temperature to 180°C (160°C fan) mark 4.

4 Spread the jam over the pastry base. In a bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy and paler in colour. Gradually beat in the eggs, followed by the lemon zest and almond extract. Fold in the flour, ground almonds and baking powder.

5 Gently spoon and spread the almond mix over the jam and sprinkle with the flaked almonds. Bake for 30-35min until golden brown and set. Cool on a wire rack.

6 When cold, remove from tin, dust with icing sugar and cut into slices. Transport to the picnic in an airtight container lined with baking parchmen➺t.