Serves: 10

Note: this recipe uses ‘Num-nums’ - a local fruit grown along the Wild Coast of South Africa. As a substitute, use strawberries.

150 unsalted butter, at room temp
150g caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp salt flakes
2 eggs
150g almond meal
¼ cup plain flour
375g strawberries, halved (or half Num-nums and half strawberries) 
⅓ cup strawberry jam
100g white chocolate, chopped

Spiced pastry:
250g plain flour, plus extra to dust
1/4 cup caster sugar
1⁄2 tsp each ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg
125g unsalted butter, melted, browned and cooled
2–3 tbsp cold water

Preheat oven to 180c fan forced. Place the flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and a pinch of salt in a bowl then pour in the cooled browned butter (see note below on how to make brown butter) and 2 tbs water then stir to combine into a dough. Use about half of the dough to press into the base of a well buttered 23cm loose-bottomed tart tin. Then use the rest of the dough to press into the sides of the tin so it is completely covered. Use a cup measure or straight sided glass to even out the dough on the bottom and even to ensure the sides have an even thickness. I prefer to do this compared to rolling out the dough - however the traditional way is ok too. Use a knife to trim the top of the tart tin evenly, cutting away excess pastry. Place in the freezer for 5 minutes to firm up a little. Prick the base with a fork a few times, but please dont create massive holes. Bake for 15 minutes then remove from the oven and use a spoon to press down if the base of the pastry has lifted a bit - bake for another 5 minutes until pastry is golden. Set aside to cool while you make the filling.

For the filling, combine the butter, sugar, vanilla, ginger and salt in a bowl and use electric beaters to beat until thick and pale. Add the eggs and beat until well combined. Stir through the almond meal and flour. Toss the strawberries (or strawberries and num-nums) with the jam. Spread of the almond filling into the tart shell then top with half the strawberries (or strawberries and num-nums) then spread over remaining almond meal mixture and poke in the remaining strawberries along with some white chocolate in the gaps.

NOTE: Brown butter: to make brown butter, place your butter in a saucepan over medium heat and melt. It will start to simmer, then cook gently, swirling the pan around every now and then until you notice the milk solids start to turn light brown. Quickly pour into a heatproof bowl to stop the cooking, making sure you scrape all the brown bits into the bowl using a spatula.