Raspberry and Almond Torte

In a bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Add the lemon zest and set aside. In your food processor, grind the almonds and confectioners sugar until fine.

In your stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter until soft and creamy. Add the almond mixture and mix on medium low to combine. Add two of the egg yolks, blend and reduce the mixer's speed to low. Add the flour/spice mixture and beat until just combined.

Place roughly two thirds of the dough into a 9" tart pan with a removable bottom. Wrap the remaining third of the dough in plastic, flattened like a pancake, and chill in the refrigerator.

Press the dough into your tart pan, creating an even layer for the crust. Fill the tart with a layer of jam. If the jam is difficult to spread, warm in the microwave for a few seconds and then attempt to fill the tart.

Remove the slab of dough from the refrigerator and roll it out on a lightly floured surface into a 10" circle. Using a fluted pastry cutter (or ravioli cutter), cut the disk into strips. If you don't have a pastry cutter a pizza wheel or sharp knife works just fine.

Lay the dough strips across the torte to create the lattice. While I attempted to create a fancy braided lattice, this failed miserably. The dough is just too delicate to handle weaving so I recommend one just laying down half the strips and then top them diagonally with the remaining strips. Press the strips into the edge of the crust, trimming any excess. Place the torte into the freezer for twenty minutes.

Pre-heat the oven to 350°F. Before baking, whisk together the remaining egg yolk with the milk. Brush the crust and lattice with the egg wash. If desired, sprinkle the crust with coarse sanding sugar (you can skip this if you wish to sprinkle it with confectioners sugar before serving).

Bake for 45-55 minutes, until the crust has browned and the jam is bubbling. Cool on a wire rack.