Spelt and Cherry Tart

To prepare the spelt and cherry tart, start by making the cherry compote. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, add the cherries, washed and pitted, along with the sugar 1, the vanilla pulp 2 and the emptied pod, which you will remove at the end of cooking 3.

Grate in the lemon zest 4 and also add the filtered juice 5, then give it a good stir 6 and turn on the heat: keep the flame medium until it boils, then lower it and continue cooking gently.

After about 40 minutes, when the compote reaches 226°F 7, it's ready to be removed from the heat. Set it aside and proceed to prepare the shortcrust. In a mixer, place the sifted flour, a pinch of salt, and the butter just taken out of the fridge and coarsely chopped 8. Blend everything until you get a sandy consistency 9.

Pour the obtained mixture onto a work surface (or into a bowl) and add the sifted icing sugar; create a fountain shape and pour the grated lemon zest 10 and the egg yolks 11 in the center. Mix everything initially with a fork, then when the eggs have absorbed the flour, you can continue by hand. Knead just long enough to compact the dough 12 so that the shortcrust does not warm up too much with the heat of your hands and remains crumbly.

Form a dough ball and flatten it before wrapping it in plastic wrap 13; place it in the refrigerator to firm up for at least 30 minutes. Then move on to the spelt filling. Put the almond flour, unpeeled almonds, and spelt flour in the mixer 14 and also add half of the sugar 15.

Blend until you get a very fine powder 16. Transfer it to the stand mixer and add the soft butter in chunks 17 and turn on the beaters. Then separate the egg whites from the yolks 18.

And add the latter to the stand mixer, continuing to beat 19. Set the mixture aside. Separately, whip the egg whites with the remaining sugar, adding it in two or three batches 20, until they reach stiff peaks 21.

In a bowl, at this point, combine the spelt and almond mixture with the whipped egg whites 22, gently mixing them together with the spatula from bottom to top 23. Take the shortcrust pastry and roll it out into a sheet about 0.6 inches thick 24.

With the help of a rolling pin, unfold the shortcrust pastry sheet inside a 9.5-inch diameter greased and floured cake pan 25. Press the dough against the mold and with a knife, cut away the excess dough from the edges 26, keeping it aside for decorations. Pour the cherry compote inside the lined cake pan 27.

And spread it evenly on the bottom. Now pour the almond and spelt mixture over the cherry base 28 and level it well with a spatula 29. From the leftover and rolled-out shortcrust, cut strips 30.

Lay them on the surface of the cake, crossing them to form the classic lattice pattern 31. The cake is ready to be baked 32. Bake it in a preheated static oven at 356°F for 40 minutes, checking at the end of cooking 33.