Ria's Collection: Daring Bakers goes back in time - Bakewell Tart...er...Pudding

Friday, June 26, 2009

Daring Bakers goes back in time - Bakewell Tart...er...Pudding

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 must say that I have never seen nor eaten one before :) But I have read about it in Nigella Lawson's FEAST ... my Fiance sent a copy all the way for me from USA on my birthday!!! :) It was a lovely gift! :) The recipe was simple and straightforward so I found it easy to work with! :)

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 pastry

Prep time: 15-20 minutes
Resting time: 30 minutes (minimum)
Equipment needed: bowls, box grater, cling film

225g (8oz) all purpose flour
30g (1oz) sugar
2.5ml (½ tsp) salt
110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
2 (2) egg yolks
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract (optional)
15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) cold water

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


Frangipane

Prep time: 10-15 minutes

Equipment needed: bowls, hand mixer, rubber spatula

125g (4.5oz) unsalted butter, softened
125g (4.5oz) icing sugar
3 (3) eggs
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract
125g (4.5oz) ground almonds
30g (1oz) all purpose flour

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.


The Challenge

Mandatory and Optional Elements

Mandatory element 1: Sweet Shortcrust Pastry
Mandatory element 2: Frangipane

Optional element: Home made jam or curd

I used a store bought Mixed Fruit Jam and it worked just as fine ! Did want to experiment with a peach curd but I ran out of time...had a hectic month travelling quite a bit :)

The tart baked beautifully,only If I had lil patience for the jam to set ...I could have prevented the leak!! :P Everybody enjoyed it thoroughly! I will definaltely make it again!! :)

Thank you so much Jasmine & AnnieMarie for choosing this recipe for us! :) We all had a blast! :)

You can have a look here to see what my Daring Friends have to offer!

To all my dear DB friends-Hope you all had a lovely time baking the tart :) We really are a cool bunch...ain't we?? A big hug to y'all!!!

-Ria


27 Comments:

Divya Kudua said...

Yum yum yum..they look so pretty Ria.Kudos to you Db's..I had a look through the recipe and guess what,for the first time I feel the recipe is quite do-able:).Great job:) and I love the almond decoration on top;)

♥peachkins♥ said...

These look pretty.. I love that this pudding has a little design on top of it..

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

You've done it in style! Love the almond decoration.

Dharm said...

Your tart looks great Ria! It was really a fun challenge. I like your almond flowers!! :)

Anonymous said...

Great job on your Bakewell, Ria..your tart looks so pretty, especially with the little almond flowers..and delicious :)

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Your tart is beautiful! you did a great job!

Cheers,

Rosa

Audax said...

Love your almond flowers on the tart and the colour is delish. Bravo cheers from Audax

Yasmeen said...

Tart...er...pudding looks gorgeous Ria,I love the clicks too:)

Liz said...

Hi Ria! This is my first time in your blog and when I read the text about you, I felt like we have a lot in common, I am addicted to collect recipes too! It is what I do when a free minute... Hope to hear from you! Liz.

P.S. This tart is wonderful with the almonds and the jam, yummy!

Lauren said...

Yum!! Your tart looks wonderful =D. I love the flowers you made on top - adorable!

Ammu said...

So glad you r back with ur yummy food and pics.. keep rocking!! Your decor looks real cool...and am sure it is yummy!!

Anonymous said...

I just love your almond flower decoration! It looks so classy & elegant!

Corry said...

Ria, Love your Bakewell tart. Love the almond flowers. I bet this tastes fantastic as well. Great photography too.

Deeba PAB said...

Well done on the challenge Ria. Can see you really enjoyed it. Good for you!!

The Purple Foodie said...

Your bakewell tart looks pretty with all those almonds. I don't have Nigella Lawson's Feast, but now you've tempted me to go check out reviews!

Anonymous said...

Delicious looking tart - the almond decorations are very pretty!

ice tea: sugar high said...

Love that almond flower. Gorgeous

Unknown said...

The tarts look delicious!! I love the slivered almond design on top!

Tina's Kitchen said...

Well done on your tart and I love your almond flowers.

Jo said...

Great job on your challenge and I like the almond flower decoration on top of the tart. So cute!

PheMom said...

I love how you decorated your tarts - the almonds look like little flowers! Very pretty!

Fahrenheit 350° said...

What a wonderful fiance! And I agree with everyone else, I love the almond flowers!

Jacque said...

Mmmm, it looks like you've been making them forever. Nice work!

Ria Mathew said...

Thank y'all soo sooo much!! Ahh!! Feels soo good that you all liked the almond deco on top! I just din't know how to sliver the almonds and hence came up with the idea! :)

saffronapron.blogspot.com said...

Hey Ria,
Your pics are becoming darn good. Keep going gal.

jasmine said...

Adore the almond daisies...very creative.

Thanks for participating.
j

Rachel said...

An elegant-looking challenge really well done.

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