Almond Sponge with Tuile

Crumble the yeast into the milk and allow to dissolve. Add 5 tbsp flour and half the sugar and mix to create a starter dough. Leave to rise in a warm place for around 30 minutes.

Add the remaining flour and sugar, the eggs, egg yolks, butter and a pinch of salt and knead into a smooth dough. Leave to rise again until the dough has about doubled in size (approx. 30 minutes).

Mix the cornflour and vanilla seeds together and stir in 5 tbsp of cold milk to form a paste. Place the remaining milk, sugar and the vanilla pod in a pot and bring to the boil. Allow the sugar to dissolve and then stir in the cornflour paste.

Remove from the heat and discard the vanilla pod. Leave to cool completely stirring occasionally. Whip the cream and fold it into the vanilla sauce.

Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C in a fan oven), 350°F, gas 4 and grease a baking tray with butter.

Roll out the dough approx. 2 cm thick on a floured work surface and place on the prepared baking tray. Bake for around 30 minutes, then knock out onto a wire rack and leave to cool.

To make the almond brittle, place the orange juice, 1/2 tsp zest, the sugar, almond flavouring and butter in a pot and simmer until you have a syrup-like mixture.

Stir in the flour and the nuts and leave to cool.

Make small balls from the mixture and squash them flat. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper, place the almond bites on the tray and bake until golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.