Bakewell Tart

Bakewell tart day!! I’ll be honest, I’ve not been prepared this week and while I have written and made a recipe, I haven’t actually written a blog. I’ve therefore found myself in the great situation where I’ve just come off my second night shift, am so tired that I can barely string a sentence together and now have to write something coherent enough to be understood by the general population. Fun! 

So forgive me if it’s short and sweet today but I am currently the most incoherent human on Earth. This recipe is so quick, easy and delicious. It's perfect as a dessert or as an afternoon tea cake and I can guarantee will be loved by everyone...except maybe those with nut allergies. Anyway, bakewell tart is a classic for a reason, I certainly know that it went down well with my colleagues when I took it into work last night, so have a go! 

Bake, enjoy and have a great weekend! I'm off to curse at the yellow curtains in my bedroom that let in every inch of daylight and try to get some sleep.

Some final tips before you get started...

• Some pastry making tips:
• Handle as little as possible.
• Be gentle when pressing into the (very well greased) tart tin. If you stretch the pastry it will shrink while baking...I speak from experience.
• If your dough is too dry to come together, add a very small amount of ice cold water until it comes together. If your dough is too wet and sticky, add a little flour until it is smooth and easy to handle.
• All of your pastry ingredients should be cold! Room temperature should never have anything to do with it!
• To bake blind, line your uncooked pastry shell with greaseproof paper and fill with ceramic baking beads or an alternative which will weigh down the pastry but not burn in the oven. This will stop your pastry from rising.
• While baking your bakewell tart, if the top looks as though is getting a little burnt but is still wobbly to touch, cover with kitchen foil in the oven and continue to bake for the designated time or until the centre has set. 

Bakewell Tart

For the Pastry:

200g Plain Flour

2 tbsp. Icing Sugar

Pinch of Salt

100g Unsalted Butter (chilled and cubed)

2 Medium Egg Yolks (beaten)

1 tbsp. Ice Cold Water

For the Filling:

100g Unsalted Butter (softened)

125g Caster Sugar

3 Large Eggs (beaten)

½ tsp. Almond Extract

1 tbsp. Grated Orange Zest

150g Ground Almonds

30g Flaked Almonds

6 tbsp. Raspberry Jam

20cm Round Tart Tin

1)      To make the pastry, sift the flour, icing sugar and salt into a large bowl. With the tips of your fingers, rub the chilled butter into the flour, sugar and salt until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Stir in the eggs yolks until the mixture comes together to form a pastry dough. If the mixture still won’t come together, add one tablespoon of ice cold water a little at a time until a smooth, firm dough has formed. Flatten the dough into a disc, wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.

2)      Grease the tart tin. Once the pastry has chilled for 30 minutes, on a floured surface roll out the pastry using a rolling pin until approximately 3mm thick. Line the prepared tart tin with the pastry, pressing it in gently to fit the mould. Chill for a further 30 minutes.

3)      Preheat the oven to 190◦C. Prick the base of the tart shell with a fork before lining with greaseproof paper. Fill the greaseproof paper with baking beads or an alternative before baking blind for 15 minutes.

4)      Remove the tart from the oven and remove the baking beads and greaseproof paper before baking the tart shell for a further 5 minutes until golden brown. Remove and reduce the oven to 180◦C.

5)      To make the filling, cream together the butter and sugar for at least 5 minutes until light and creamy. Gradually, a little at a time, stir in the eggs until well combined with the creamed mixture. Add the almond extract and orange zest before folding in the ground almonds.

6)      Spread the base of the tart shell with the jam until evenly covered. On top of this, fill the tart shell with the filling mixture, smooth and cover with the flaked almonds. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the tart is golden brown and has set in the middle.