Daring Bakers Challenge: Bakewell Tart
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 chose to make tartlets instead of one large tart because I wanted to try with chocolate and with rhubarb jam. The recipe was enough for 4 quite large tartlets (ø 15 cm moulds) and I’m happy I did this, as I burnt my first 2. It was not disastrous, we ate them, even if they were pretty dry. I should have paid more attention while they were baking. I put the other 2 lower in the oven (I’ve got a gaz oven) and checked every 2 minutes at the end of the indicated baking time, and they were perfect!
Ingredients
Sweet shortcrust pastry
- 225g (8oz) all purpose flour
- 30g (1oz) sugar
- 2.5ml (½ tsp) salt
- 110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
- 2 egg yolks
- 2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract (optional)
- 15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) cold water
Frangipane
- 125g (4.5oz) unsalted butter, softened
- 125g (4.5oz) icing sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract
- 125g (4.5oz) ground almonds
- 30g (1oz) all purpose flour
Optional: jam
- Home-made rhubarb jam
- Dark chocolate, melted
Method
1. Start with the shortcrust pastry.
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 almond 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.
Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
2. Prepare the frangipane while the pastry rests in the refrigerator.
Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is primrose in colour 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. In the words of Douglas Adams: Don’t panic. Really. It’ll be fine. After all three are in, pour in the almond 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 colour.
3. Assemble the tarts
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 centre 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.
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Your tart looks lovely–too bad about the two oopsies
Thanks for participating.
j
The almond and rhubarb one was fantastic! yum
Thank you Jasmine. I guess the mistakes are part of the game and I’m happy to learn new things with the Daring Bakers every month