Mr Bakewell makes pretty good Bakewell tarts, exceedingly good you might say. So good in fact that I have never thought it necessary to make one.
Until now that is.
Armed with an impressive picking of wild raspberries and having already made an enormous supply of wild raspberry marshmallows already (you really must try making your own) I racked my brain about what to make with the rest. I settled on jam. But not just jam for the sake of jam, jam to fill a Bakewell tart.
Bakewell tarts really are pretty special, the perfect cross between a tart and a cake. A result so much more than the sum of its parts. Crumbly pastry + sweet jam + rich frangipane = pudding (or tea) heaven.
Thankfully it is also pretty easy to make and reheats well whilst you are eating your main course or brewing a pot of tea. Perfect!
This time I made my own pastry because you can and made my own jam because I wanted to but really there is no need, feel free to buy them from the supermarket. The frangipane (an almond batter cake) can be whipped up and poured over the jam filled tart case in under 10mins- amazingly quick for something so yummy.
I am sure to make this over and over again and I hope you do to.
Recipe
Serves 8
Adapted from Mary Berry and BBC Food
Fills a 8″ tart or cake in (use one with a removable base if you can- it makes removing it much easier!)
Pastry
175g plain flour
40g butter, cold
35g lard (or butter- lard makes the pastry flakier), cold
2-3tbsp water
Alternatively use 300g ready made shortcrust pastry
- Blitz the flour, butter and lard in a food processor until the consistency of sand. (If you don’t have a food processor rub it together in your fingers until sand like)
- Pour into a bowl and slowly add the water bringing it all together with your hands until you have a dough. Squish into a flat circle
- Roll this, or your shop bought pastry, out between two sheets of baking paper until it is 5mm thick and large enough to fit into the tin and up the sides with a little over hanging
- Carefully lift the pastry into the tin and push into the sides. Prick the base all over with a fork (this will allow steam to escape when baking). Pop it in the fridge for 30mins to chill
- Preheat your oven to 180 (fan)
- Remove the pastry case from the fridge, line with a sheet of baking paper and fill with rice or baking beans to weigh it down. Bake for 15mins, remove the baking paper and rice/beans and bake for another 5-10mins to allow the bottom of the pastry to cook (we don’t want a soggy bottom!)
- Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely in its tin. Once cooled use a sharp knife to carefully cut off the overhanging pastry. (Cutting it off now rather than straight after lining the tin and chilling before baking will stop your pastry from shrinking down the sides and leaving you with an irregular small case rather than a neat full sized one)
Jam and frangipane filling
4tbsp jam
125g butter
125g caster sugar
125g ground almonds
1 egg, beaten
1/2 tsp almond extract (if you have it- don’t worry if you don’t)
30g flaked almonds
- Preheat the oven to 180C fan if it had been turned off
- Spread the jam out over the bottom of your cooked tart case
- Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Slowing mix in the ground almonds and then egg and almond (if using). Spoon this over the jam, scatter over the flaked almonds and baked in the oven for 35-40mins
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool a little before serving with cream or ice cream. Alternatively allow to cool completely and then eat at room temperature or reheat in the oven at 180C wrapped in foil for 15mins