Bakewell Tart | Bake Off Bake Along

Another week in that glorious white tent and a pretty disastrous week for Val. I was so gutted to see her and her dancing self be sent home this week.

We all knew she wasn't the best baker in tent but she was one of my favourites. Her speech at the end just made me love her even more... 

"When you bake, you always bake for a reason. You’re giving it to people, so you make it the best you can and you make it with love. And whenever I make anything, I stir love into it, I knead love into it, so when I present it, it’s special."

I'm an instant fan of pastry week, and it's mainly because of the danishes and all the brilliant wonderful combinations people come up with. However, I wasn't feeling brave enough to whizz up some homemade puff pastry. 

Which led me to the humble and oh so classic Bakewell Tart.

I have to admit, I was one of the few that was left a bit confused when they put a thick layer of icing on the top. I mean, I'm all for a Mr Kipling cherry bakewell with the cherry and icing (yes please), but to me, bakewell's have always been puffed up and scattered with flaked almonds. 

But in the spirit of a technical challenge, I was going to follow Mary Berry's recipe. That was until my tin turned out to be not tall enough to even take the icing. So definitely not star baker material...

I'm pretty impressed with how the pastry turned out - bloody delicious. The jam was just the perfect amount and frangipane I think has to be my favourite smell ever. Needless to say, my kitchen smelt pretty good for the next couple of hours. 

One thing I will say is that Mary's recipe has a lot of butter in it, from the pastry and the filling. I would definitely reduce the amount of butter next time I make one of these tarts. 

Bakewell Tart

Adapted from Mary Berry. 

Ingredients:

For the jam:

200g raspberries

250g caster sugar
or: 4-5 tbsp raspberry jam

For the sweet shortcrust pastry:

225g plain flour

150g chilled butter

30g caster sugar

1 medium free range egg

For the filling:
150g room temperature butter
150g caster sugar
150g ground almonds
1 medium free range egg
1 tsp almond extract
A handful of flaked almonds

For the icing:
100g icing
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 tsp water 

Directions:

1. First make the jam: place the raspberries in a pan and crush. Add the sugar to the pan and, over a low heat, bring to the boil until the sugar has disappeared. Stir to make sure they are combined. Bring to the boil for a few more minutes before removing from heat. Optional: sieve out the seeds. Place to the side to cool. 
2. Next, make the pastry: Place the butter and flour into a bowl and rub in using your fingers or a pastry blender. (pastry blender are extremely useful as the butter doesn't melt like it does with warm hands) When the mixture is fine breadcrumbs, add the caster sugar and combine. Next add the egg and, if needed, 1-2 tbsp of cold water to form a soft dough. 
3. Sprinkle flour onto a clean work surface and roll out the dough until it is the thickness of a £1 coin. Place of a 9 inch fluted tart tin, making sure the pastry is pressed into the side and edge of tin. Leave the edges of the pastry to overhang the edges of the tin - the pastry will shrink as it cooks. Transfer the tin to the fridge to chill for around 30 minutes. 
4. Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas mark 6. Remove the tin from the fridge and prick the base. Line the pastry with greaseproof paper and top with either baking beans.Bake blind for roughly 15 minutes.Remove the baking beans and greaseproof and return to oven for a further 5 minutes until brown. Allow the base to cool to the side before filling. 
5. Fill the base of the tart with 4-5 tbsp of raspberry jam. 
6. Cream the sugar and butter together in a large bowl. When the mixture is pale, light and fluffy, add the egg, ground almonds and almond extract.
7. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag and cut off the end. Pipe the mixture over the jam in a spiral pattern. Use a spatula to gently spread the mixture, making sure there are no gaps and it meets the edges. 
8. Reduce the temperature of the oven to 180C/Gas mark 4 and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle flaked almonds on top. Return to oven for remaining 15 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely in the tin. 
9. Combine ingredients for the icing in a small bowl and drizzle across the bakewell tart to finish. 

What did you bake for this weeks challenge?