To make the pastry, rub the butter
into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the almonds and
sugar. Whisk the egg yolk, water and almond essence together and mix
into the dry ingredients to form a soft dough. Knead until smooth, wrap
and leave to rest for 20 minutes.
For the topping, sift the flour and
spice into a bowl and rub in the butter. Stir in the sugar and almonds.
Roll out the pastry and use to line a 23 cm flan tin. Trim the top and
chill for 15 minutes.
Preheat a baking sheet in the oven at
190oC/375oF/Gas 5. Peel, core and slice the apples
thinly. Arrange in the flan in overlapping, concentric circle, doming
the centre. Sprinkle with raisins.
Cover with the topping mixture,
pressing it on lightly. Bake on the hot baking sheet for 25-30 minutes
or until the top is golden brown and the apples are tender (test them
with a fine skewer). Leave the flan to cool in the tin for 10 minutes
before serving.