BRITISH BAKEWELL TART

BRITISH BAKEWELL TART

Once upon a time, a very good friend of mine invited me to their home to have a casual Saturday afternoon visit and a cup of tea.  What was intended to be an hour or two visit, proceeded to be an all day event, filled with great conversation, memories, and laughter.  Naturally, the tea and the sweets were as fantastic as the visit, which is why I’m thrilled to have the chance to  pass on a traditional English tea-time favorite:  The Bakewell Tart.

The Bakewell Tart actually has an interesting history.  Some think the name came from a customer of the White Horse Inn in Bakewell, England, who on eating it decided that the tart was "baked well".  Thus, the Inn called it their "Bakewell" tart, a pun on the name of the town of Bakewell and a well baked tart.

Now, just to confuse my culinary, Anglophile friends, it should be noted that there is a Bakewell Pudding and a Bakewell Tart that differ somewhat but it’s generally accepted that the pudding is the original version, dating back to Tudor and possibly even medieval times.  The most commonly told story is thought to be a myth...that it was made by accident - as with all good inventions!

As the story goes, the Bakewell Tart was first made in either 1820 or the 1860’s in Bakewell, Derbyshire, when a Mrs. Greaves, the landlady and cook of the White Horse Inn (now called the Rutland Arms) was busy and left instructions for her new cook to make a special flaky, buttery and delicious strawberry jam short crust pastry tart (or pudding) which used eggs and almond paste.  This is where the stories diverge...

One version says that the cook was supposed to put the jam on top of the egg mixture but forgot and put the egg mixture on top of the jam.  Another version says that the cook forgot the eggs and sugar, making a non -sweet pastry.  So they stirred the eggs and almond paste mixture together to make a filling and then, instead of blending the strawberry jam into the filling, spread the jam onto the bottom of the pastry shell and covered it with the filling.  Well, as you can imagine, when the tart finished baking and the beautiful fruity jam rose through the paste, it became an instant and popular hit at the Inn!

BRITISH BAKEWELL TART:

For the Crust:

·         1 ¼ Cups Flour

·         7 Tbs. Unsalted Butter, Chilled & Cubed

·         ¼ Cup Sugar

·         ¼ Cup Grated Lemon Zest

·         1 Large Egg Yolk

·         ½ tsp. Vanilla Extract

For the Filling:

·         8 Tbs. Unsalted Butter, Softened

·         ½ Cup Sugar

·         3 Large Eggs

·         ½ tsp. Almond Extract

·         1 Cup Ground Almonds

·         1/3 Cup Good-Quality Jam (Raspberry or Strawberry are most common)

·         ½ Cup Sliced Almonds

·         1/3 Cup Powdered Sugar (For Dusting)

DIRECTIONS:

For Dough:

To make the dough, rub the flour and butter together with your fingertips until the mixture has a bread crumb texture.  Stir in the sugar and lemon zest.  Beat the egg yolk with the vanilla and mix into the crumbs, bringing the mixture together to form a soft dough.  If needed, add a little water.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 350.  Roll out the dough on a floured surface to a decent, but not to thick crust.  Spray your pie plate or tart pan with baking spray, and carefully lay your crust into the container.  Prick the bottom and sides with a form.  Line the crust with parchment paper and fill with ceramic pie weights or beans.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Remove the beans and the paper, baking for an additional 5 minutes, if the center still looks uncooked.

For the Filling:

Cream butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs and almond extract until well combined.  Fold in the ground almonds to form a thick paste.

Spread the jam evenly over the bottom of the tart shell.  Pour the almond filling over the jam layer and spread top evenly with a knife or scraper.  Sprinkle top with almond slices.  Bake for 30 – 40 minutes until golden brown.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes.

Dust with powdered sugar, sprinkled through a sieve.