This is the first time that I have made Bakewell tart and I think that it turned out pretty good. The recipe is from a TV program in the UK called Economy Gastronomy.
What you need
- 130g/4¾oz ground almonds
- 100g/3½oz butter, softened
- 100g/3½oz caster sugar, plus extra for dusting
- 1 free-range egg, beaten, plus 1 free-range egg yolk
- few drops vanilla extract
- 500g/1lb 2oz ready-made shortcrust pastry
- plain flour, for dusting
- 5 tbsp raspberry jam
- 2 tbsp milk
- 1-2 tbsp flaked or whole almonds
What you do
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
- Blend together the ground almonds, butter and sugar using a wooden spoon.
- Add the whole beaten egg (but not the additional yolk) and the vanilla extract and beat until well combined. Cover and chill in the fridge for 2-3 minutes, or until the mixture has firmed up.
- Roll out the pastry onto a lightly floured work surface until it forms a square approximately 30cm/12in in diameter. I used a square block of chilled pastry and, to keep the shape, kind of pressed down with the rolling pin, rotating the square each time, in order to keep the square shape as I was rolling it thinner.
- Lightly dust a shallow, lipped roasting tray with flour. Gather the pastry up so that it is rolled loosely around your rolling pin, then lay it over the prepared roasting tray so that the edges of the pastry fall over the lipped edge with the middle of the pastry inside the tray.
- Spoon the jam into the centre of the pastry and spread it in an even layer over the pastry using the back of a spoon (leave 5cm/2in free at the edges of the pastry).
- Spoon the chilled almond mixture on top of the jam and spread out in an even layer. At this point, I did get some jam kind of mixed up with the almond mixure but it didn’t spoil the finished tart.
- Draw the corners and edges of the pastry up and fold them over to form a rough pastry case around the filling mixture.
- Mix together the remaining egg yolk and the milk, then brush the pastry lightly all over with the mixture. Sprinkle the tart filling with the caster sugar and flaked or whole almonds.
- Transfer the Bakewell tart, in the roasting tray, to the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the tart filling is firm and pale golden-brown and the pastry is crisp and golden-brown (it took 20 minutes in my oven)
- When the Bakewell tart is cooked, reduce the oven temperature to 160C/310F/Gas 3 and continue to cook the Bakewell tart with the oven door open for another 20-25 minutes.
- Remove the tart from the oven and set aside to cool slightly before serving.
