Saturday, September 20, 2008

Bakewell Tart...it's certainly not cake but is it a pudding, tart or pie?



In typical inimitable British style this dessert recipe is called a pudding because ALL Brit desserts come under the title of ‘pudding’ and this particular one, from the beautiful little northern town of Bakewell, is meant to be consumed after the evening meal, as the ‘pudding’ course, and not for tea in the afternoon when it would indeed be called a tart or pie. Are you confused yet? In texture this pie is somewhat akin to a pecan pie without the nuts. It is dense and moist and actually quite light in flavour. It improves greatly with a day of ‘maturing’ at room temperature, and I highly recommend this, in a trusty metal cake tin and is always eaten cool but not cold (definitely not out of the fridge!!!...bad form I say!!). It is not fussy or elegant but it is a very satisfying Farmhouse recipe especially if you like almond flavoured delights as I do. Here we go with the recipe:

Pate Brisee for the crust...a very reliable and crisp version which keeps well.

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

½ teaspoon of salt

2 teaspoons sugar

1 stick very cold butter, grated on a box grater

1/8 to 1/4 cup of very cold water

Mix flour, salt and sugar in a bowl. Add grated butter ( I do all my pastry by hand so grating the butter helps keep things cool for better pastry...of course you can choose to do this in a food processor)....rub the butter into the flour mix until it resembles coarse meal then quickly add in the water by dribbles, I mix with a fork to keep everything cool, and when you think it is wet enough, and it’s always less than you think, quickly and gently ‘sqwoosh’ pastry together until you have a cohesive lump. Put into the fridge for, at the very least, half an hour and preferably longer, to ‘rest’. We all need a rest after this!

Take the pastry out of the fridge and let it warm up slightly before rolling out and lining a glass pie dish 9" diameter. Put back in fridge until ready to be filled.

The filling:
Raspberry jam preferably, strawberry second, anything else you choose third.

4 oz butter melted and slightly cooled

4 oz sugar

4oz roasted and ground almonds...if you are doing the roasting and grinding yourself let the almonds cool COMPLETELY, to get rid of any moisture, before you grind them in a coffee or spice grinder, and grind with equal amounts of the sugar so the mixture doesn’t get sticky.

4 egg yolks

3 egg whites whipped to soft peaks

½ teaspoon almond extract...have you tried the almond extract by ‘Simply organics’, it is the best I have ever tasted.

Putting it all together:
1. Take piecase out of fridge and spread your chosen jam over the bottom...I like just a schmear, others like more...traditionally it is less rather than more.

2. Mix melted butter, almond extract and ground almonds and sugar together til well blended, add egg yolks and blend til smooth and finally add the beaten egg whites gently in batches so as not to deflate the bubbles.

3. Spread mixture over the jam and make sure the jam is sealed around the edges or else it will bubble out in baking.

4. Bake in the middle of a 350 degree oven for about half an hour until the filling is completely set but be careful not to burn the pastry.

Ta dah!! You have yourself a good northern English classic recipe that has been around for hundred’s of years and is still made prolifically in it’s home county of Derbyshire.
Happy Baking...let me know how it comes out! Check this bakewell link out for more info!

9 comments:

HAWTHORN HALL said...

I really enjoyed this post, not just for the delicious recipe, but for understanding the differences between "puddings", "tarts" etc. Thank you for sharing this interesting information and recipe!

Gillian

HAWTHORN HALL said...

I really enjoyed this post, not just for the delicious recipe, but for understanding the differences between "puddings", "tarts" etc. Thank you for sharing this interesting information and recipe!

Gillian

Acornmoon said...

We went to Bakewell in Derbyshire and bought some Bakewell Tart, well pudding if you prefer. Each baker claims to have "The original" recipe and all of them closely guarded secrets, you have obviously blown their cover!

My husband loves this dish so I will have to give it a go. I was very interested to learn your pastry making technique of grating the butter.

Thanks for this post Patricia.

Pattern Patisserie said...

Gillian and Valerie...I'm so glad you both enjoyed this post. I am going to skew all my recipes going forward to a Brit bent and I'm also starting a baking calendar so if you know of any special baking dates I need to post please let me know!!! Thanks for reading, Patricia

The Weaver of Grass said...

Hi Patricia - thanks for visiting my blog. Liked your recipe for Bakewell tart - I too have been to Bakewell and each pudding is slightly different. Sure yours is fantastic.
I see you want special baking dates - do you know about our pancake day on Shrove Tuesday?

Acornmoon said...

I suppose you have heard of Stir-it-up-Sunday? It's when people start to make Christmas pudding. It is supposed to be the last Sunday before Advent.

When my boys were little they did not care much for bonfire night as they did not like the loud bangs, so instead we used to start making our Christmas cake. Now they are grown I have a dog who hates the bangs, maybe we should make dog biscuits then!

Unknown said...

Hey Patricia- Thanks for visiting and all your kind words! Also, I am going to have to check out the British Country Living if I haven't already. There are so many differnt magazines I can't keep them all straight. About the link, of course you can. I'm just glad you enjoyed it. Have a nice day! Daisy~

Pattern Patisserie said...

Dear Acornmoon and the Weaver of Grass...thanks for letting me know about Shrove Tuesday (known as Fat Tuesday in the US) and Stir-up Sunday, both of which I will be addressing on the blog but as they both change dates I will put them up nearer to their times....either a Christmas Cake or pudding, or hey!why not both, will be on the list for baking and reporting on in the not-too-far-distant-future! Thanks Ladies...Patricia

Angela Cater said...

I'm a Derbyshire lass from 13 miles away from Bakewell. There are both Bakewell tarts and Bakewll puddings and they are both very different from each other. A Bakewell tart is very sweet and almondy and sometimes made with icing on top. It can be eaten cold or warm with custard. A Bakewell pudding is much heavier and is made with puff pastry.