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.
I was fortunate to have LJack deliver me my own personal piece of this Bakewell Tart and it was melt in your mouth delicious. The only problem is she only brought me one piece. I would like some more, please.