Daring Bakers June Challenge: Bakewell Tart

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.

So the two main requirements for this challenge were to make a homemade shortbread crust and to make frangipane. The last element of the Bakewell Tart is the layer of jam, and we weren't required to make out own, but I decided to anyway.


I had some plums sitting around the kitchen that weren't going to last much longer, so I decided to make a quick jam with those. I used a Bon Appetit recipe that I found online . When I was looking for almond flour at the store, it was like $6, so I decided to just buy blanched almonds and make my own. I just threw them in the food processor for a little while, and they ground down really well.


Instead of making 1 9" tart, I decided to use my new 7" tart pans so I made 2 7" tarts and I still had extra ingredients so I also made 2 mini tarts. I filled the two large tarts with the plum jam, and the mini tarts got store-bought raspberry jam for one and nutella for the other. The 7" tarts I baked for about 25 minutes, and the smaller tarts were done after about 15 minutes.



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.

Sweet Shortbread Crust

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.

Plum Jam

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

1 lb ripe plums, halved, pitted, and cut into slices

Optional: I also added some lime zest

Stir the water and sugar together in a saucepan over medium heat until all the sugar dissolves. Scrape in seeds from the vanilla beans and then throw in the beans along with the lime zest. Bring to a boil and continue until it reaches 260ºF. Remove from the heat and add the plums and let sit for a minute. Put back on high heat and stir constantly until it's all broken down and reduced, should be about 9 minutes. Pour into a metal or glass container and cover with plastic wrap, pressing it down onto the surface. Chill.