Strawberry and Almond Frangipane Tart

In shallow mixing bowl stir the flour, ground almonds, sugar and salt. Cut the butter into pats and add to the flour mix along with the egg. Work mixture to the consistency of breadcrumbs then quickly knead to a dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and put into the refrigerator to rest for 30 minutes.

In medium-sized saucepan add the milk and crème fraîche. Carefully slice the vanilla pod open lengthwise, scrape out the seeds and add to pan. Slowly bring mixture to a boil. Over a bain-marie stir the egg yolks and one egg with the 2/3 cup sugar. Add the hot milk with vanilla and stir until the custard begins to thicken. Pour through a fine strainer immediately and cool.

Preheat oven to 375° and lightly grease 10 inch tart pan with butter.

Roll out the chilled pastry onto a lightly-floured work surface to about 1/2 inch thickness and line the greased pan. Lay a piece of parchment paper, cut to size, on top of the pastry and weigh it down with dried beans. Bake for 15 minutes and remove from oven, remove beans and paper.

Turn the oven down to 275°, spread the custard on top of pastry and bake for about 1 hour, until set. Cool.