I found a recipe card for Bakewell Tart in my Mum’s recipe box the other day: short crust pastry, raspberry jam, frangipane, icing!!! ‘Yum’, I thought. I just had to bake one!
Bakewell Tart is not very popular outside of Britain. Bakewell Tarts originate from the small village of Bakewell, Derbyshire. It is made from short crust pastry covered with a layer of jam (usually raspberry) and filled with frangipane and then iced on top. The tart can be spread with a layer of icing or just a drizzle, depending on how sweet you would like your tart.
Roll the short crust pastry to a thickness of 4 mm. This is the thickness of a British one pound coin or two Canadian $2 coins.
Place the pastry in a fluted pan and then place in the refrigerator to keep it cold before baking.
Bake the pastry in the oven with pie weights or beans. Remove the weights and then bake for about five minutes by itself.
But wait! I thought. This recipe box contained all of our family’s favourite recipes that Mum baked over and over again. I don’t remember my Mum ever making Bakewell Tart.
I’m sure my Mum must have had a Bakewell Tart at some point during her youth. Perhaps during a summer outing with her family? And she probably made it once or twice for my Dad in Canada.
Where ever my Mum got the recipe and why will forever remain a secret. I’m sure that when she was writing out the recipe, it brought back many happy memories. But that will always remain a mystery.
Spread the cooled short crust pastry with raspberry jam, fill with frangipane and then bake in the oven until set and golden.
Decorate with icing when the tart is cold.
Happy Mother’s Day, Mom! Love you!
Bakewell Tart
Ingredients
- for the jam
- 250 grams raspberries (frozen or fresh)
- 22 g sugar
- juice from 1/2 a lemon
- for the sweet shortcrust pastry
- 225 g plain flour
- finely grated zest of 1/2 a lemon
- 150 g butter, diced and cold
- 25 g icing sugar
- 1 large egg, beaten
- For the filling
- 150 g butter, soft
- 150 g sugar
- 150 g ground almonds
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 tsp almond extract
- for the icing
- 300 grams icing sugar
- 3 tbsps water
- 1 tsp almond extract
- food colouring gel
Instructions
Jam: Add raspberries, sugar and lemon juice to a pot. Bring to a boil and then let simmer for about 12 minutes until thickened.
Place in refrigerator to firm up.
Pastry: Add the flour to a medium sized bowl, add the diced cold butter and rub together with your fingertips until it resembles find breadcrumbs. Add in the icing sugar. Mix the egg and ice cold water together and add to bowl. Mix until a soft dough is formed.
Lightly sprinkle your table with a bit of flour. Roll out the dough to a thickness of just under 4 mm (one pound coin or 2 Canadian $2 coins). Place the rolled dough into a fluted tin. Trim dough, but let it still overhang a bit as it will shrink somewhat.
Chill for about 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 390 degrees F.
Before you put the pastry in the oven, place some non-stick parchment paper over top of the pastry, fill tin with pie weights and bake for 15 minutes. Then, remove the beans and cook by itself for 5 minutes to dry out the bottom.
Remove from oven and let cool.
Once the pastry has cooled, spread it with four tablespoons of the jam.
reduce the oven temperature to 355 degrees F.
To make the frangipane, cream the butter and sugar together until nice and fluffy and pale. Add the egg, ground almonds and almond extract. Mix together until everything is incorporated. Spoon or pipe the mixture on top of the jam smoothing the top.
Place the tin back in the oven on a tray and bake for 25-35 minutes. The frangipane should be a golden brown. Also, a cake skewer when inserted into the middle of the cake, should come out clean.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely in the tin.
To remove the cake tin, place the tin on top of something tall and narrow, like a tupperware container. Remove the sides of the tin and then place the Bakewell Tart on a cake platter.
To decorate: Mix together the icing sugar, water and almond extract. Place about 3 tbsp of this icing in a separate bowl and add a few drops of food colouring. Spoon the white icing all over the top of the tart. Pipe several lines of coloured icing across the tart. Drag a toothpick or cocktail stick through the lines to create a feathered look.
slightly adapted from Mary Berry’s Bakewell Tart from The Great British Bake-Off.
2 Comments
Karin Rylander
May 10, 2019 at 8:24 pmLooks delicious! About how much milk or water did you add to make the icing? I’m going to try this with a gluten free flour blend and let you know how it turns out. So pretty.
Suzanne
May 10, 2019 at 9:42 pmI used about 3 tbsp of water. It’s in the recipe now. ? Thanks Karin.