1	For almond pastry, beat sugar, butter and cinnamon in an electric mixer (2-3 minutes). Add eggs, one at a time, beat well to combine. Sift in flour, fold in almond meal, add a pinch of sea salt, turn onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth. Wrap pastry in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3 hours. Roll one-third of pastry on a lightly floured work surface to 2mm thick, refrigerate on a tray until firm and set aside. Roll remaining to line a 20cm x 5cm baking ring (trim excess pastry and reserve) and place ring on a baking paper-lined oven tray. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
2	Preheat oven to 160C. Combine dried fruit, brandy and syrup in a saucepan, stir occasionally over medium heat until liquid is absorbed (8-10 minutes). Remove from heat, stir through morello cherries, cool.
3	Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat, browning (3-4 minutes). Cool. Whisk egg, sugar, vanilla seeds and spices in an electric mixer until thick and pale (5-6 minutes). Fold in melted butter and flour, fold in fruit mixture, spoon into prepared pastry ring, bake until firm (1 hour-1 hour 20 minutes), then cool.
4	Cut stars from reserved pastry using star-shaped cutters. Place on baking paper-lined oven trays, bake until golden (12-15 minutes), scatter over tart, with cranberries, dust with icing sugar and serve with crème fraîche.

Short-order recipe
Spiced crème fraîche
Whisk together 400gm crème fraîche, 40gm brown sugar, 30ml Grand Marnier, scraped seeds of 1 vanilla bean and ½ tsp each ground cinnamon and nutmeg until thick and smooth. Refrigerate until required.

Drink Suggestion Rutherglen muscat.