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Bakewell tart

Australian Gourmet Traveller classic dish recipe for bakewell tart with tangelos.

By Alice Storey
  • 45 mins preparation
  • 1 hr 25 mins cooking plus resting, cooling
  • Serves 10
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Bakewell tart with tangelos
Named after the Derbyshire town of Bakewell, this old-school jammy treat sounds like some kind of iron-clad guarantee of recipe success. Funnily enough, all historical references suggest the tart originates from a cook’s error, rather than by design. As with many old-fashioned or classic dishes, the veracity of these references is a little murky. One tale, dating back to the 1820s, tells of a Mrs Greaves of the White Horse Inn instructing her inexperienced servant to make a jam tart. Unsupervised, the servant put the jam in the base of the tart, rather than using it as a topping. The busy Mrs Greaves served the tart anyway, and the rest, as they say, is history. An alternate version has a nobleman ordering a jam tart in the 1860s, with a similar mix-up being made in the haste to serve him his order. This, though, is unlikely, as English cook and poet Eliza Acton gave a recipe for it more than a decade earlier.
History aside, this dish has stood the test of time for good reason. While a strawberry jam is traditional, there’s really no hard and fast rule. The most important thing is to use a good-quality jam. We’ve made a batch of sweetly sour tangelo jam, but you could substitute your own favourite jam recipe or even a shop-bought conserve that you love.
The frangipane topping uses enough almonds to warrant buying the freshest you can get – just make sure you bake it only until it’s light golden so it doesn’t become dry.
We’ve dressed ours up with fresh tangelos that have been simmered in a light caramel, but you could simply dust the tart with icing sugar and serve it otherwise unadorned.
From the tangy jam filling to the almond topping and the dressing of syrupy fresh tangelos, the name says it all.

Ingredients

  • For brushing: eggwash
  • 200 gm softened unsalted butter
  • 200 gm raw caster sugar
  • 4 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 200 gm almond meal
  • Finely grated rind of 2 tangelos
  • To serve: thick vanilla yoghurt
Sweet shortcrust pastry
  • 500 gm plain flour (3 1/3 cups)
  • 200 gm pure icing sugar, sieved
  • 200 gm unsalted butter, coarsely chopped
  • 4 eggs, at room temperature
Tangelo jam
  • 4 tangelos, segments coarsely broken
  • 220 gm caster sugar (1 cup)
  • Thinly peeled rind and juice of 1 lemon
Sweet and sour tangelos
  • 220 gm caster sugar (1 cup)
  • 3 tangelos, broken into segments
  • Juice of ½ lemon

Method

Main
  • 1
    For sweet shortcrust pastry, pulse flour, sugar and a pinch of salt in a food processor to combine. Add butter, pulse until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Add eggs, pulse until dough just comes together. Turn onto a lightly floured surface, shape into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap, refrigerate to rest (1-2 hours).
  • 2
    Meanwhile, for tangelo jam, bring ingredients to the simmer in a saucepan over medium-high heat, stir occasionally until sugar dissolves and mixture is jammy (15-20 minutes). Transfer to a sterilised jar, set aside to cool. Makes about 400ml.
  • 3
    Preheat oven to 180C. Roll pastry to a 5mm-thick round, line a 24cm-diameter straight-sided tart ring (see note) placed on an oven tray lined with baking paper, trim edges, refrigerate to rest (30 minutes). Blind bake until golden and crisp (10-15 minutes). Remove paper and weights, brush with eggwash, return to oven until golden and sealed (2-3 minutes). Cool to room temperature, spread jam evenly over tart base to about 1½cm thick. (Excess jam will keep refrigerated for 2 weeks.)
  • 4
    Beat butter and sugar in an electric mixer until pale and creamy, gradually add beaten egg, fold in almond meal and rind. Spread evenly in tart, bake until golden and set (25-35 minutes), set aside to cool.
  • 5
    Meanwhile, for sweet and sour tangelos, combine sugar and 100ml water in a saucepan over medium heat, stir to dissolve sugar, cook until golden (5-7 minutes). Add tangelos and juice (be careful as hot caramel may spit), stir to combine, simmer until syrupy (5-7 minutes), cool to room temperature and serve with bakewell tart and vanillla yoghurt.

Notes

Straight-sided tart rings are available from select kitchenware shops. If unavailable, use a fluted 24cm tart tin.
This recipe is from the September 2010 issue of
.

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  • undefined: Alice Storey