Bakewell Tart – Daring Bakers

The June Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart… er… pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800′s in England.

I’d never heard of this dessert before the challenge. I used to work with some girls who’s last name was Bakewell and I don’t think they even knew about this tart. They constantly got asked baking related questions about their last name and never once did I hear this tart come up in any of their responses.

This tart was a bit complicated but fun to make. Making the crust and grinding the almonds were great ways to test out all of the features on my new blender/food processor combo. This was also my first time baking by weight rather than by volume. And the tart was absolutely delicious.

I layered the almond shortbread crust with raspberry jam and then topped it with the frangipane.

Here’s the recipe:

Sweet Shortcrust Pastry

Ingredients
225g (8oz) all purpose flour
30g (1oz) sugar
2.5ml (½ tsp) salt
110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
2 (2) egg yolks
2.5ml (½ tsp) vanilla extract (optional)
15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) cold water

Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.

Lightly beat the egg yolks with the vanilla extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough. (I did all the grating and mixing with the food processor.)

Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Frangipane

Ingredients
125g (4.5oz) unsalted butter, softened
125g (4.5oz) powdered sugar
3 (3) eggs
2.5ml (½ tsp) vanilla extract
125g (4.5oz) ground almonds (I ground my own in the blender)
30g (1oz) all purpose flour

Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is primrose in color and very fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle, don’t panic, it’ll be fine. After all three are in, pour in the vanilla extract and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well. The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the almonds) and retain its pallid yellow color.

Assembling the Tart

Ingredients
One quantity sweet shortcrust pastry
250ml (1cup (8 US fl. oz)) jam or curd, warmed for spreadability (I used raspberry)
One quantity frangipane
One handful blanched, flaked almonds (I flaked these in the food processor too)

Place the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it’s overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimatised for about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 5mm (1/4”) thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the center and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to the tart pan, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base. Top with frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart. Smooth the top and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. Five minutes before the tart is done, the top will be poofy and brownish. Remove from oven and strew flaked almonds on top and return to the heat for the last five minutes of baking.

The finished tart will have a golden crust and the frangipane will be tanned, poofy and a bit spongy-looking. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter. Serve warm, with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard sauce if you wish.

When you slice into the tart, the almond paste will be firm, but slightly squidgy and the crust should be crisp but not tough.

Related posts:

1. Cream Cheese Strudel – Daring Bakers
2. Mom’s Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
3. Molasses Crinkles
4. Fudge
5. Aunt Ann’s No Knead Bread

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