The Bake Off Box: Bakewell Tart
The June 2021 Bake Off Box challenge was a Bakewell tart - sweet shortcrust pastry filled with raspberry jam, frangipane and topped with glacé icing!
Equipment
- Small saucepan
- Wooden spoon
- 2 or 3 small bowls
- Fine-mesh sieve
- Medium mixing bowl
- Rolling Pin
- 23cm fluted, loose-bottomed tart tin (or 23cm loose-bottomed sandwich tin)
- Baking or greaseproof paper
- Baking beans or uncooked rice
- Electric beaters (optional)
- Wire cooling rack
- Cocktail stick
- Serving plate
Ingredients
For the jam
- 100 g raspberries
- 100 g jam sugar
For the tart case
- 200 g plain flour plus 25g for dusting
- 100 g unsalted butter chilled
- 40 g icing sugar
- 1 medium egg
For the filling
- 130 g unsalted butter softened
- 150 g caster sugar
- 150 g ground almonds
- 40 g plain flour
- 2 medium eggs beaten
- 1 tsp almond extract (optional)
To decorate
- 250 g icing sugar
- 1/2 tsp almond extract (optional)
- red colouring gel
Instructions
Make the jam
- Put the raspberries in a small saucepan over a low heat and crush them with a fork.
- Add the jam sugar and increase the heat to medium. Stir with a wooden spoon to dissolve the sugar, then bring to a gentle boil. Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, to a pourable jam.
- Remove the pan from the heat and carefully pour the jam into a bowl. Set aside to cool while you make the tart case.
Make the tart case
- Sift the 200g of plain flour into a medium mixing bowl. Chop the 100g of chilled butter into small cubes and add it to the flour.
- Gently run the flour and butter between your fingertips, shaking the bowl occasionally to bring larger flakes to the surface. Keep rubbing in the butter until the mixture resembles fine, uniform breadcrumbs.
- Tip the 40g of icing sugar into the bowl and stir it through to combine.
- Add the egg and mix well with a table knife. If the mixture looks too dry, drop by drop add up to 1 tablespoon of cold water. Mix until you have a flaky dough.
- Lightly dust your work surface with some of the 25g of flour. Tip out the pastry from the bowl and knead it gently to bring it together into a smooth ball. Use your palm to press the ball into a disc.(If your pastry feels too soft to roll, wrap it and refrigerate it for 20 minutes before continuing).
- Roll out the pastry disc to a circle about 30cm in diameter and to the thickness of a pound coin. Keep moving the pastry and flouring the surface as needed, to ensure the pastry disc doesn't stick.
- Using your rolling pin, lift up the rolled-out pastry and carefully position it over a 23cm fluted, loose-bottomed tart tin, allowing it to drape over the edges and gently fall into the hollow of the tin.
- Using your fingers, gently press the pastry into the corner and up the side of the tin, moulding to shape as necessary.
- Roll your rolling pin across the top of the tin, pressing to trim off the overhanging pastry. (This is called 'rolling off').
- Press the pastry into the side of the tin one more time to neaten and then prick the base all over with a fork. Place the tart case in the fridge for 20 minutes to chill. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 190°C/170°C fan/Gas 5.
- Cut a large piece of baking or greaseproof paper and scrunch it up. Open it out again and use this to line the tart case, then fill it with baking beans or uncooked rice. Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes, until the pastry is lightly golden.(Scrunching the baking paper before lining the tart case makes it more pliable, helping it to fit snugly into the corners).
- Carefully remove the baking paper and beans or rice into a bowl and bake the tart case for a further 5-10 minutes to dry out the base. Be careful the pastry doesn't colour too much around the edges. Set aside to cool for about 5-10 minutes. Reduce the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/Gas 4.
Make the filling
- Spread the cold raspberry jam over the bottom of the pastry case in an even layer.
- Using electric beaters (or by hand with a wooden spoon), cream together the softened butter and caster sugar for 3-5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with your spatula as needed.
- Add the ground almonds, 40g plain flour, the eggs and 1 teaspoon of almond extract (if using) and mix together (using the beaters or a wooden spoon) until smooth. This is your frangipane filling.
- Spoon the filling into the pastry case and, using the palette knife, smooth the surface evenly to cover the jam.
- Bake the tart for 30-35 minutes, until golden brown and a cocktail stick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Set the tin on a wire rack and leave the tart to cool completely (about 1 hour).
To decorate
- Sift the 250g of icing sugar into a mixing bowl. Stir in the 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract (if using), then 1 teaspoon at a time, add about 2-3 tablespoons of water until you have a smooth, fairly thick icing.
- Spoon 2 tablespoons of the icing into a separate, small bowl and stir in about 10 drops of red colouring gel to create a deep pink icing. Spoon the pink icing into the small piping bag.
- Carefully remove the cooled tart from the tart tin and place it on a serving plate. Pour the white icing on top of the cooled tart and spread it out with the (clean) palette knife to form a smooth layer. Work quickly, taking care not to get the icing on the pastry edges.
- While the white icing is still wet, snip a small hole in the end of the piping bag of red icing. Pipe 7 parallel lines of the red icing across the tart, spacing them evenly apart.(Pipe the first red line in the centre of the tart and then evenly space 3 lines on either side).
- To create the feathered effect, turn the tart so that the pink lines of wet icing run horizontally in front of you. Carefully drag a cocktail stick down through the centre of the lines. Then move the cocktail stick 3cm to the left, and pull up through the lines. Keep going, alternately dragging up and down 3 times either side of the centre, to give 7 'feathers' altogether. Leave the icing to set (about 30 minutes), then serve in slices.
Notes
The recipe and instructions above are exactly as written on the recipe card provided with The Bake Off Box. This is not my own recipe!