Bakewell Tart has to be one of the most well known traditional British desserts dating back well into the 1800’s. Variants of the recipe have appeared in countless recipe books and articles over the centuries and this is our version passed down my family from my grandmother. A deliciously crisp shortcrust pastry case filled with a moist and delicious almond filling coated in crisp toasted slithered almonds. Is your mouth watering yet?
Don’t be afraid to buy shop bought shortcrust pastry, as we have said countless times before it takes professional pastry chefs many many years to perfect the art of pastry so why not leave this part to the experts unless you have a tried and tested recipe.
The Ingredients:
1 Pack of Shop Bought Shortcrust Pastry
4tbsp Strawberry Jam
160g Butter
170g Silver Spoon® Caster Sugar
3 Eggs
120g Ground Almonds
125g NEILL’S® Self Raising Flour
2tsp Lemon Zest
1tsp Baking Powder
1tsp Nielsen Massey Almond Extract
0.5tsp Nielsen Massey Vanilla Extract/Paste
Slithered Almonds for Sprinkling
Recommended Equipment:
Food Mixer (Recommended Bosch MUM46A1)
Pyrex Mixing Bowls
Heston Blumenthal Dual Platform Precision Scale
Spatula
Tart Dish
The How-To:
Preheat oven to 180c.
Roll out the shortcrust pastry so that it is larger than the tart dish you are using for the tart.
Gently lay the pastry over the dish and working around the edges gently press the pastry into place ensuring there are no gaps. Be careful not to rip the pastry. If you do a wet finger can make any small repairs.
Place a round circle of baking paper on top of the pastry. A top tip here is to crumple up the paper as this will sit the tart dish better.
Fill the tart dish with baking beans or coins if you dont have any.
Bake in the centre of the oven for 25 mins until the edges are golden.
Remove and allow to cool in the tart dish.
When almost cool spread the strawberry jam over the base ensuring it is evenly covered.
Now to make the filling.
Cream the butter and sugar together in an electric mixer by beating them for 5 mins.
Beat in the eggs one at a time.
Beat in the almond and vanilla extract.
Beat in the ground almonds.
Sieve in the flour and baking powder and fold together.
Mix in the lemon zest.
Bake in the centre of the oven for 15 mins.
Remove and scatter some slithered almonds on the top.
Return to the oven for a further 15 mins.
Remove and allow to cool before slicing.
You’re Done!
What is baking beans or coins. And what’s the purpose in this dessert.
Hi!
They weigh the pastry down when blind baking to stop it rising. Giving a nice crisp bake.