I adore Bakewell Tart. Especially the layers of pastry, raspberry jam and almond sponge combined, taste utterly delicious to me. Because I love the flavours so much I have a few ‘Bakewell’ recipes on here. Usually I am content to leave the top of the sponge covered in almond flakes. While following Mary Berry’s pretty iced tart last week, on the Great British Bake Off programme, I decided to try it out. Resulting in this Iced Bakewell Tart.
Everything you see on and in this tart is homemade, including the raspberry jam. Which, just happens to be my favourite and is incredibly easy to make, for the recipe please see HERE . I’ll put that into a separate post, otherwise this ones going to be miles too long, we just want to get to the part where we can eat this Iced Bakewell Tart!
Adding Fresh Flowers To Enhance The Photography
Having spotted a couple of open blooms open on my rose bush, I couldn’t resist cutting them and placing the vase next to the tart. They give the photos a romantic, afternoon tea look, echoing the pink icing on the top of the tart.
As much as I enjoy coming up with new recipes and testing them to ensure they will work as well for you as they do me, I’ve also grown to enjoy the photography side of my blog. Sometimes adding a single item can transform the ‘feel’ of a photograph. My slightly wind ravaged rose has added an element of beauty, but also imperfection, which I really like. Especially as I feathered the icing all in the same direction, more on that later!!!
The Importance Of Sharing A Meal
With Feasting is Fun, my aim is to make each meal, recipe or bake a feast. What I mean by that is this; when time is taken to prepare good, homemade food, it should be enjoyed and the atmosphere as we feast together should be fun. Conversation across the dinner table can be one of the most important parts of the day. People relax, enjoy their meal and open up about their day.
Sitting together as a family, at least one day a week, I believe is incredibly important for the health and well being of us all. Sharing a meal more regularly is preferable, however, my hubby doesn’t get in until late some nights and I realise we are not unique in that aspect of family life.
I honestly believe, that from sharing family time, over a meal, our 3 children have grown to enjoy the same foods and meals as us, their parents. Of course they all have their preferences and there are certain ingredients they do not eat. What we enjoy is sitting with a curry, or a couple of pizza’s and some homemade coleslaw, at the weekend, feasting both on the food and each other’s company.
Weekend Baking And Afternoon Tea
That’s why I love the idea of afternoon tea. Usually at the weekends when we tend to eat our evening meal a bit later. Mid afternoon the kettle will go on, teapot filled and we’ll feast on whatever ‘mum’s’ been making that morning. Truthfully, most of what I make on those occasions doesn’t make it to this blog. I want to enjoy the company of my family. That said on occasions when I am taking photos, once I’ve said that it’s ok for everyone to help themselves it still amazes me how quickly a cake can disappear!
I take this as a good sign that it tastes great 😉.
This tart was baked in an 25cm/10″ x 5cm/2″ deep loose bottom tart tin, the same one I use for my quiches, see here.
Recipe: Iced Bakewell Tart serves 10-12
400g Shortcrust Pastry – in my opinion the Iced Bakewell Tart is sweet enough without using sweetened shortcrust pastry, see my pastry recipe here
3-4 heaped tablespoons Raspberry Jam
175g/6oz Unsalted Butter
150g/5.5oz Caster Sugar
1/8th tsp Salt – I use Maldon
1tsp Vanilla Extract – I always use Nielsen-Massey extracts
1/2tsp Almond Extract
3 Large Free Range Eggs
100g/4oz Ground Almonds
75g/3oz Plain White Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
For the icing:
350g White Icing Sugar
1/2 tsp Almond Extract
Alternatively for an un-iced finish you will need 25g flaked almonds
Method : Preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan, gas mark 7, 425F
Just a quick note about the pastry case – usually I trim any excess pastry from the tin, chill for 30 minutes in the fridge and then bake. When I baked this tart I was really pushed for time, so baked with an overlapping of pastry which was them trimmed after baking. I would thoroughly recommend trimming the pastry prior to baking for a neater edge. I also had a couple of problems with the pastry sticking right near the top.
Making And Blind Baking The Shortcrust Pastry Tart Shell
- Roll the pastry fairly thinly, about the depth of a £1 coin and line the tart tin – note when using homemade pastry I never grease the tart tin, however if you are unsure of how non stick your tin is brush lightly with some cooled melted butter.
- Dock the bottom of the pastry case with a fork to keep it flat during baking.
- Cut a large piece of baking parchment, screw it into a ball and then line your pastry tart case with it and fill with baking/ceramic beans.
- Place in the middle of the oven and ‘blind bake’ for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes baking has elapsed, remove the tart from the oven. Lift out the baking beans using the baking parchment and place the tart back into the oven for a further 10 minutes, until it is golden and cooked on the base.
Making The Almond Cake Layer
- In a large bowl whisk/beat together the butter, sugar and salt until it is very pale and creamy.
- Add in the almond and vanilla extract and whisk/beat until incorporated.
- Next add all 3 eggs and whisk/beat for a minute.
- Remove the whisk, add in the flour, baking powder and ground almonds. Using a large spoon fold these ingredients into the mix until they are just combined.
Assembling And Baking The Bakewell Tart
- Once the baked tart case has cooled slightly, spoon the raspberry jam into the centre and spread it, using the back of the spoon, so that it almost reaches the rim.
- Now spoon over the almond sponge, starting from the outside and working towards the centre. The almond sponge will cover and seal the jam in. Thus stopping the jam from leeching out the side and on to the top of the sponge.
- If you are baking an un-iced tart sprinkle the top with flaked almonds.
- Reduce the oven heat to 190C/170C fan, gas mark 5, 375F.
- Place the jam and almond sponge filled tart back into the middle of the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes, until the sponge is golden and firm to the touch, without wobbling in the centre – mine took 45 minutes.
- As soon as the tart is baked remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Icing The Bakewell Tart
- Sift the icing sugar into a bowl. Add the almond extract and enough water, I used approximately 30mls, to form a thick but pourable paste, once stirred together.
- Remove 2tbsp of icing to a small bowl, add the tip of a cocktail stick, that has been dipped in pink gel icing and stir. Aim for a pale pink colour, however if you’d like a deeper pink, go for it! Place your coloured glacé icing into a small piping bag.
- Keeping the 2 icings very separate, pour the pure white icing over the tart. Start in the centre use an offset spatula to push it to the edges.
- Snip the end off of the small icing bag and pipe horizontal lines of pink icing across the white icing, separated by 5cm/2″, from edge to edge. Work fairly quickly as you want both icings to still be unset when you drag through, with a cocktail stick.
Feathering Piping Effect
- Using a cocktail stick, again with a spacing of 5cm/2″, place the tip of the skewer at the top of the icing and drag it through to the bottom. Reversing from bottom to top next time. You can see, during the rush to complete my tart on time, I pulled my icing all in the same direction. Oh the pressure!
- Below is a photo of my tart with my one directional feathering (if it can be called that) compare with the accurate feathering of my Cherry Almond Sandwich Cake.
- As the glacé icing is quite thick, leave for a good 2-3 hours before serving.
Place your Iced Bakewell Tart on a pretty plate or stand and serve with a drink of your choice. Mid morning with a steaming mug of coffee or a pot of tea mid afternoon.
If you enjoy the flavour of almonds and raspberry together, this Iced Bakewell Tart is really worth making.
If you have enjoyed this recipe for Iced Bakewell Tart you may also like these:
While talking about family time and feasting together, my intention certainly is not to preach. In truth, I eat far too many meals away from my family, in bed, due to my health. Rather what I’m trying to say I say, is, that when you have the opportunity, make the most of it!
Whatever you are making, baking and creating in your kitchens, have fun remembering times spent and times to come feasting with friends and family.
Sammie xx
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