Two in one [STEP 1: Almond Custard Pie]

There are a lot of two in one deals out there; but really, how much I can't believe it's not butter! do you really need...I venture none?

Cake. Cake on the other hand, now that's a two in one deal I can handle.

So when my housemate brought back some fresh almonds from her latest shoot in Mallorca I knew I already had the first step in my two step journey towards mass cake consumption.

Step 1: Almond Custard Pie.

To make this pie I soaked the ground almonds in milk so that the custard would take on a mild almond flavor. This adds a great new dimension to the cake and it also gives you a cups of soaked almonds to start part 2 of today's two in one deal!

Pie Crust Recipe

300g flour70g sugar200g cold butter1 eggCombine dry ingredients.Cut in the cold butter, add the egg, and combine everything with a fork and then with your hands making sure that no big clumps of butter remain.Cool dough in the fridge for 5 minutes, roll it out, and place it in the pie pan (9in/11cm).

Almond Custard Recipe
1 cup of ground almonds (not blanched)3 cups of milk1/4 vanilla bean or 1 tsp of good vanilla extract
2tbs of honey1/4 tsp of salt4 eggsPreheat oven to 450 Fahrenheit/220Celsius.
Soak the ground almonds and vanilla bean in the milk. The best is to do this overnight so that the milk really can take on the flavor, but in a pinch two hours will do.Strain the almonds and vanilla from the milk, saving the almonds for later and discarding the vanilla.Heat up the milk, salt, honey,(and vanilla extract if you haven't used a vanilla bean) on low heat until the ingredients have dissolved and the milk is scalding.Let it cool to the point that you can hold your finger in it for longer than 5 seconds, then add the eggs into the milk. Make sure to beat them in well, so that the mixture is homogeneous.Pour this into the pie pan, sprinkle with cinnamon, and carefully place it into the preheated oven.Bake at 450 degrees F at first so that a nice skin forms at the top, after 10 minutes reduce the temperature to 300F/160C and bake for 30 minutes or until the pie wobbles like jelly and has a nice golden brown top.Let cool before cutting.AND DON'T FORGET TO SAVE THE ALMONDS FOR LATER!