BAKING?! I don’t do it. I do not bake. I hate baking. I don’t even like sweets all that much. But this one? This gets my lazy butt off the couch and behind a rolling pin, just so I can taste the combination of almond and raspberry, one more time.
As with most food-obsessed individuals in America, and abroad, I’m in love with, nay infatuated with the Great British Bake-Off (that’s right Pilsbury, I’m looking at you coldly and using your trademarked phrase – none of this “Baking Show” business, it’s “Bake-off and you know it). With my infatuation has come a newfound interest in what British desserts taste like, and why they seem SO MUCH BETTER than anything we have over here.
Enter: the Bakewell Tart. It’s been a common star on the show and is referenced regularly, but its name had absolutely no meaning to me because it’s not a common dessert over here. One curious evening I looked it up, only to discover it contains my absolute favorite dessert flavors, almond, and raspberry. Heck, my wedding cake was almond and raspberry, that’s how serious I am about it.
So I begrudgingly set aside my feelings about baking and put together a warm, tender, chewy, light, airy, crisp – and all the other good words – tart.
Bakewell Tart – The Tart That Gets Me Baking
The perfect dish for your next Great British Bake-off watch party
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
Ingredients
For Tart Shell:
1 1/2 cups AP flour
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
9 tablespoons very cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg
For Tart Filling
1 cup almond flour
1 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
9 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 large egg
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/3 cup raspberry jam
Instructions
For Tart Shell
- Combine AP flour, salt and confectioner’s sugar in a food processor. Pulse to combine.
- Add butter and pulse briefly to create small pea sized pieces of butter throughout the flour. Some pieces will be smaller than pea sized, that’s ok.
- Add egg and hold the pulse button until it forms a ball in the food processor.
- Empty into a container and refrigerate for three hours, or preferably over night
- Preheat oven to 375
- Butter tart tin
- Roll tart dough to about 1/4 inch and fit in the tart pan, being sure to press against fluted edges. Pierce all over with a fork
- Freeze tart in tart pan for 30 minutes to an hour
- Remove from freezer and bake for 15-20 minutes until a pale golden. Allow to cool for 20 minutes after removing
For Filling
- Combine almond flour and AP flour in food processor and pulse until mixed evenly.
- Add sugar and almond extract and pulse to combine
- Add butter and 2 eggs and pulse until smooth.
- Empty almond flour filling into a container and refrigerate for three hours or preferably overnight.
- To assemble tart, line the bottom of the partially cooked tart dough with a thin layer of raspberry jam. Do not glop it on there or it will create a raspberry mess. Thin and controlled is best, no matter how much you love raspberries – like me –
- Dot the almond mixture over top of the jam and smooth it into an even layer with the back of a spoon or an offset spatula.
- Bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes until top is browned and slightly puffy
- Enjoy warm, and for up to three days – if you can make it last that long
Keywords: GBBO, Great British Bake-off, Bakewell Tart, Bakewell, Paul Hollywood, Tart, Dessert, Raspberry, Almond, Marzipan
Here is my version, adapted from the Smitten Kitchen’s near-perfect rendition. This recipe is time-consuming, but ultimately very simple. I recommend giving yourself a day, make the crust dough and filling the night before, and relax on a nice Sunday morning by assembling your ingredients and eating a tart for breakfast. I certainly won’t tell anyone.
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