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.
I loved this challenge and so did everyone else who tasted it! The tarts were easy to put together, but again something I would have NEVER made unless I got my monthly nudging from the Daring Bakers!
I made mini tarts, cause everything is cuter small, right?
I made some homemade strawberry and cherry jam that was crazy good and another batch with chocolate(you didn’t think I would leave out my first love did you?)
For the jam I cut up 5 ounces of strawberries and 5 ounces of cherries, added about an ounce of sugar to a pan and let them cook down. I mashed them up a bit and added some vanilla and orange zest. YUM
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 shortcrust pastry
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
Jasmine’s notes:
• I make this using vanilla salt and vanilla sugar.
• If you wish, you can substitute the seeds of one vanilla bean, one teaspoon of vanilla paste or one teaspoon of vanilla extract for the almond extract
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.
wow! this looks delicious…and tasty..
Looks good & your jam sounds great
adorable! good job on making your own filling 🙂
Yours turned out so beautifully! I am very impressed!
Great photos!
I checked out cake central, as you suggested… AMAZING!
These look so delicious!!! Chocolate is always my favorite but the jams sound incredible. I think I'd need to make both too. I've always been curious about what the British call "Pudding" 🙂
I am so impressed! We went to Bakewell a couple of years ago and tried 2 types of Bakewell tarts – and I didn't like it much! It didn't have a big enough layer of fruit, it was just a tiny smear. Your way looks better!
Beautiful jam and tart! Well done!
Your mini tarts are so beautiful! I love the Daring Bakers reveal day – it's so fun to see what everyone does with the recipe. This was my first time actually participating… and I agree, I loved the tart but never would have made it on my own!
HOORAY for chocolate! Your tarts look beautiful =) I'm a big fan of making everything small as well. That way I can delude myself into eating a few more of those teeny tiny sweet desserts 😀 Well done!
I think the chocolate ones are calling my name. Really I think they are!They are gorgeous Leslie, both of them! The jam is really summery!
Your tarts are adorable!! I love the jam, it sounds wonderful with all of those flavours =D.
That looks delicious. Thanks for the recipe.
Oh wow! I love your version! Are they individual-sized? They look tiny and cute! I love the jam in the centre, it seems pretty low in sugar, so it gets extra points in my book!
Lovely tarts. Your jam sounds incredible! Nice job!
I love the idea of making these as individual sized tarts. They look delicious and have me thinking it's time I got over my fear of making pastry
K- every review I've seen of these so far have been so positive, I'm going to have to try them. Your pictures are amazing!
That's such a cool stack..they didn't fall over! They look so pretty. It's not something I would usually make either, but it was fun.
Leslie, your tarts look perfect! And I love the fillings!
I'm impressed you made your own jam for the challenge! Looks like it turned out perfectly!
I've seen a lot of these pictures floating around and I must say yours are the only ones thus far that have caught my eye! They look super delish! I am so totally all over these!!!
UHM.. YUM!!! Once again, you amaze me!! I wish we were neighbors! I do make great coffee! I would be as fat as a house though.. from dropping in with a huge pot of coffee while you supplied the goodies!
DELISH!
The other Les
Leslie
LesieVeg@msn.com
http://leslielovesveggies.blogspot.com/
Great job on your challenge. The tart looks lovely and the jam … hmmm delish!
Oh yes this is so speaking to me. Delicious, love the filling!
Yum. I love your stack of perfectly cut tarts. And yum to your jam. Great job, they look perfect!
Mmmmm – tasty job! :)~
Those look sooo yummy! And I love the sound of that jam! Yay you for stepping outside your comfort zone. 🙂
That looks yummy! I didn't do DB this month, too busy! Yes, I looked at cakecentral for ideas. I successfully made my DD's cake. Simple, but Snow White is. It's posted on my website if you want a look.
She did love it, it made the effort into it worth it!
Yum another fantastic challenge your tarts look so delicious. I love your two versions!
your tarts are so cute. well done!
Absolutely beautiful! They look and sound so absolutely scrumptious!
strawberry and cheryy.. yummm.. I so envy you guys for having fresh cherries season. Great job
Your minis are way cute! I loved the tarts with chocolate, too!
i love your thick layer of fruit, leslie–that's the very best part in my eyes. lovely work!
I haven't typically liked cooked strawberries, but I think you just may have changed my mind! These look fantastic!
Beautiful tart! Looks delicious 🙂
The tart looks really yummy.. 🙂
That bottom stack of four tarts looks awesome…may I eat'em all?
Beautiful tarts! I love your stack of perfectly cut tarts and your homemade strawberry and your cherry jam.
Beautiful tarts! I love your stack of perfectly cut tarts and your homemade strawberry and your cherry jam.
I love the pictures for this one!
Love how you went heavy on the jam! Some of the other tarts were a bit thin on it.
~ingrid
I love that you did ones with just chocolate! They look great!
this looks delicious, I m drooling!
This looks fantastic, I dont normally enjoy 'sweets', but I think I'll make an exception here!