When the challenge was revealed this month I was oh-so-excited, as Bakewell Tarts are basically my favourite food. No joke - almond tarts of any variety are pretty much my fantasy. My mother once made 12 for my birthday and I ate a good half of those.
And last summer, I managed to develop a recipe for a perfect sugar-free frangipane. It uses maple sugar and has perfect texture, so this time around I was pretty excited. That is, until the health food shop in Kentish Town was out of maple sugar. So here I was, the day before the challenge was due, trying to make frangipane with maple syrup. Luckily, it was perfect!
But when it came time to assembling the tart, I reached into my drawer for my tart pan and found a ring but no base! So I went for a little loaf pan and made a little Bakewell loaf-tart-thing. I did blueberry jam and fresh blueberries in the middle. And all without sugar.
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.
Daring Bakers, July.
*****
Bakewell Tart…er…pudding
Makes one 23cm (9” tart)
Prep time: less than 10 minutes (plus time for the individual elements)
Resting time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 30 minutes
Equipment needed: 23cm (9”) tart pan or pie tin (preferably with ridged edges), rolling pin
One quantity sweet shortcrust pastry (recipe follows)
Bench flour
250ml (1cup (8 US fl. oz)) jam or curd, warmed for spreadability
One quantity frangipane (recipe follows)
One handful blanched, flaked almonds
Assembling the tart
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.
Jasmine’s notes:
• If you cannot have nuts, you can try substituting Victoria sponge for the frangipane. It's a pretty popular popular cake, so you shouldn't have any troubles finding one in one of your cookbooks or through a Google search. That said, our dear Natalie at Gluten a Go Go has sourced some recipes and linked to them in the related alt.db thread.
• You can use whichever jam you wish, but if you choose something with a lot of seeds, such as raspberry or blackberry, you should sieve them out.
• The jam quantity can be anywhere from 60ml (1/4 cup) to 250ml (1cup), depending upon how “damp” and strongly flavoured your preserves are. I made it with the lesser quantity of home made strawberry jam, while Annemarie made it with the greater quantity of cherry jam; we both had fabulous results. If in doubt, just split the difference and spread 150ml (2/3cup) on the crust.
Annemarie’s notes:
• The excess shortcrust can be rolled out and cut into cookie-shapes (heck, it’s pretty darned close to a shortbread dough).
Sweet Shortcrust
140 grams flour
40 grams almond meal
65 grams unsalted butter, cold
1 large egg yolk, beaten
ice water
1 tbsp maple syrup
a pinch of salt
1. Put flour, almond, and butter in a mixing bowl and pop in the freezer for 10 minutes. 2. Beat together all other ingredients and pop in the fridge. 3. Cut butter, almond, and flour until breadcrumb-like in consistency. 4. Pull the dough together using the liquid ingredients, cover in clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Blueberry Jam
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
a splash of orange juice
1. Bring to boil on the stove, and reduce over medium heat for 20 minutes or until sticky and jamlike. 2. Put in sterilised jars and cool. Will keep for a week or so in the fridge.
Frangipane
200 grams almond meal
200 grams butter, softened
1/4 cup maple syrup (or 150 grams fine maple sugar)
3 eggs, beaten
50 grams flour
1. Cream butter until light and fluffy. 2. Spoon for spoon, alternately add almond meal and maple syrup. 3. Add the eggs and whip together gently. 4. Fold in flour carefully.
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