There are a few things in this world I would willingly eat off a car bumper. Sour cream, salted caramel and almond cream.

Almond cream is one of the simplest and most basic sweet fillings in existence, and yet the decadence will still make your eyes roll back in your head.

The cream itself consists only of ground almonds, butter, sugar, and eggs. Shockingly simple. Once baked, the result is a fluffy, creamy, lightly almond-flavored filling that is more than capable of standing on its own as it is complementing just about anything.

It’s great cold, warm, room temperature, with whipped cream, with pastry cream, drizzled with booze, baked with berries, topped with fruit, as a base for a chocolate filling, caramel filling, or fruit filling. Serve it to guests, and they’ll think you slaved all day or ordered in from that little French bakery on the corner.

Everything is better with almond cream.

Blackberry Almond Tart Recipe

1 unbaked tart shell
1 – 1 1/2 c almond cream (recipe below)
1 pint blackberries

Preheat oven to 350F. Spread almond cream evenly on bottom of tart shell, about two-thirds full. Gently press blackberries (or any berry) gently into the almond cream. Bake for 30-40m until almond cream has risen and become golden brown. Serve warm, room temp, or chilled. However, having it warm is not to be missed.

Almond Cream Recipe

(makes about 4 cups)

1 c + 1 tbsp (250g) unsalted butter
1 1/4 c (250g) sugar
2 1/2 c (250g) almond flour, almond meal or ground almonds (sifted)
3 1/2 tsp (30g) cornstarch
3 eggs
2 tbsp Amaretto or rum (optional)

Beat together butter and sugar until light, fluffy and tripled in volume. Add eggs, one at at time until incorporated. In separate bowl, combine almond flour and cornstarch. Add almonds to sugar and butter mixture, mix to combine. Add in a little booze, if you are feeling sauce. Done!

This recipe will produce more cream than you might use at one time. No need to make a smaller batch, wrap the cream in plastic wrap, label and freeze. It only takes about 10m to defrost on the counter for your next dessert.

Want to learn how to make the perfect tart shell?

Make a comment and let me know! You may end up seeing a future post on tart shell-makin’.