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.
Bakewell tarts…er…puddings combine a number of dessert elements but still let you show off your area’s seasonal fruits.
Like many regional dishes there’s no “one way” to make a Bakewell Tart…er…Pudding, but most of today’s versions fall within one of two types. The first is the “pudding” where a layer of jam is covered by an almondy pastry cream and baked in puff pastry. The second is the “tart” where a rich shortcrust pastry holds jam and an almondy sponge cake-like filling.
The version we’re daring you to make is a combination of the two: a sweet almond-flavoured shortcrust pastry, frangipane and jam.

So here we have it – the chance to get creative with a Bakewell Tart. I’m so glad though that we didn’t have to recreate the so often seen mass produced horror of a Bakewell like these (sorry Mr Kipling). If we had, I might have had to abstain from the challenge in protest

Image Courtesy of Google Images
There can’t be many dishes as controversial as the Bakewell tart. For starters, there seems to be no kind of consensus on its name. We might call them tarts now, but in Bakewell itself, they’re puddings – as they were generally known for hundreds of years. Personally I think of them as a tart but whatever you wish to name them, they are a true delight.
I only live a relatively short drive from Bakewell but this was the first time I’d actually made the infamous tart, err, pudding.
Like many regional dishes there’s no “one way” to make a Bakewell Tart, but most of today’s versions fall within one of two types. The first is the “pudding” where a layer of jam is covered by an almondy pastry cream and baked in puff pastry. The second is the “tart” where a rich shortcrust pastry holds jam and an almondy sponge cake-like filling. The version we were dared to make was a combination of the two: a sweet almond-flavoured shortcrust pastry, frangipane and jam. The only key components were we make the pastry and frangipane to the letter, the jam/filling was up to us and we could make whatever size tarts we wished.
Flan-like desserts that combine either sweet egg custard over candied fruit or feature spiced ground almonds in a pastry shell have Mediaeval roots. The term “Bakewell pudding” was first penned in 1826 by Meg Dods; 20 years later Eliza Acton published a recipe that featured a baked rich egg custard overtop 2cm of jam and noted, the pudding is famous not only in Derbyshire, but in several UK northern counties where it is usually served on all holiday occasions.
By the latter half of the 1800s, the egg custard evolved into a frangipane-like filling; since then the quantity of jam decreased while the almond filling increased.
This tart, like many of the world’s great foods has its own mythic beginnings…or several mythic beginnings. Legend has it in 1820 (or was it in the 1860s?) Mrs. Greaves, landlady of The White Horse Inn in Bakewell, Derbyshire, asked her cook to produce a pudding for her guests. Either her instructions could have been clearer or he should have paid better attention to what she said because what he made was not what she asked for. The cook spread the jam on top of the frangipane mixture rather than the other way around. Or maybe instead of a sweet rich shortcrust pastry case to hold the jam for a strawberry tart, he made a regular pastry and mixed the eggs and sugar separately and poured that over the jam—it depends upon which legend you follow.
Regardless of what the venerable Mrs. Greaves’ cook did or didn’t do, lore has it that her guests loved it and an ensuing pastry-clad industry was born. The town of Bakewell has since played host to many a sweet tooth in hopes of tasting the tart in its natural setting.
Despite never having made a Bakewell Tart before I wasn’t daunted by the challenge, unlike many I love making pastry, I conquered my fear of preserves a long while back and have made frangipane several times before (just do a quick search in the side bar if you want to read some of my earlier posts about these topics).
I went for a rhubarb and vanilla jam filling and made both some mini tarts and a rather huge tart too.
The rhubarb jam was made using this recipe, but to the boiling fruit I added a split vanilla pod (seeds scraped out) and about a couple of tablespoons of hibiscus flowers, not for flavour really but to enhance the vivid pinkness of the gorgeous rhubarb. That’s the pity with rhubarb, on cooking it can look a bit pallid and that just won’t do.

I ended up with a sweet and sticky jam that was still well textured, achieved by cutting the rhubarb into various lengths instead of the uniform chunks specified and not mashing it all to a pulp. If the jam was going to be for spreading on toast at breakfast I’d probably have gone for a smoother finish but in a rustic pudding like this I believe texture to be nothing but a good thing.

Even before baking the pudding looked inviting, once covered with the pale golden frangipane.

The rhubarb flavour worked really well against the subtle almond backdrop from the soft, delicate frangipane; all encased in crisp, buttery pastry – tart…err…pudding heaven.
We happily munched the mini tarts with a cup of tea but the large version was served in slices with hot creamy custard – not ideal considering we are now entering the season of summer warmth, but hey ho in the interests of all that is foodie what else could I do?
The recipe:
- 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.
Jasmine’s notes:
- If you cannot have nuts, you can try substituting Victoria sponge for the frangipane. It’s a pretty popular popular cake, so you shouldn’t have any troubles finding one in one of your cookbooks or through a Google search. That said, our dear Natalie at Gluten a Go Go has sourced some recipes and linked to them in the related alt.db thread.
- You can use whichever jam you wish, but if you choose something with a lot of seeds, such as raspberry or blackberry, you should sieve them out.
- The jam quantity can be anywhere from 60ml (1/4 cup) to 250ml (1cup), depending upon how “damp” and strongly flavoured your preserves are. I made it with the lesser quantity of home made strawberry jam, while Annemarie made it with the greater quantity of cherry jam; we both had fabulous results. If in doubt, just split the difference and spread 150ml (2/3cup) on the crust.
Annemarie’s notes:
- The excess shortcrust can be rolled out and cut into cookie-shapes (heck, it’s pretty darned close to a shortbread dough).
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.
Annemarie’s notes:
- Add another five minutes or more if you’re grinding your own almonds or if you’re mixing by hand (Heaven help you).

The chorizo was a sweet (dulce) variety, but you could use any you like with no detriment to this dish. Chorizo is a very famous Spanish pork sausage, coloured the most beautiful shade of red by the use of paprika – the kind used varies depending on the type of chorizo. There are many varieties of chorizo available so it is worth experimenting with a few different kinds; some come cooked and sliced thinly to be used as a tapas along with other cooked or cured meats.







Image Courtesy of Google Images
I served the lahmacun with some spinach cacik, 

What is there not to like? A crisp, lightly golden exterior yielding a chewy, flavoursome interior that just makes you want to rip the bread apart with your bear hands and devour with no added extras. If you can find the inner strength though do try it dipped in lovely olive oil or spread with a good butter (
I went on to serve slices of this gorgeous bread with a lovely Spanish inspired salad, with an array of produce from the fabulous online store 

All in all a perfect summer meal and certainly very delicioso indeed
The cake did not disappoint in the slightest, moist, slightly sticky from the rose water and lime syrup, it is sweet but not overly so as the lime gives a slight sharpness to counteract the sweet floral notes of the rose water. I chose to serve mine with whipped double cream which I folded an Israeli product called malabi syrup through which was a gift from the ever lovely Francesca who if I ever visit Israel would love to meet. To me malabi syrup tastes a bit like liquid Turkish delight, sweet and floral but with a fruity undertone. Francesca tells me that the brand of syrup I have contains raspberry juice and that would explain the fruitiness, other brands I gather use strawberry or cherry juice but raspberry is the most traditional.








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