Blueberry bakewell tart

Mr CC is a curious chap in that he prefers pastry to cake.  I love both, but cake will always be my main love (after Mr CC, of course).  I’ve been dabbling more in pastry recently and find blueberries and pastry to be a lovely combination, probably textural – the juicy blueberries offsetting the crumbly pastry.  Yum.

The bakewell/frangipane filling is extra rich as it contains no flour at all; usually the recipe contains both ground almonds and flour, but this one uses only the almonds.  The taste is noticeably richer than a normal bakewell and has a good, firm texture.

I often find that anything with almonds is always better to eat the day after baking.  The almonds need time to settle and release their nutty oils and scent.  It is horrible having to ignore such a tempting treat but – if you can wait – it’s worth it!  It’s why I often store my baking in metal tins rather than transparent plastic...out of sight, out of mind!

The pastry for this tart is crumbly, light and buttery.  It is best to roll it out straight from the fridge while it is at its firmest.  If you let it get too soft it will fall apart, but it does patch well so it’s not all lost.

Mr CC has asked that I highlight the crumbly pastry and the pleasing contrast of the tart berries (they weren’t tart – he’s just trying to be like a Masterchef judge!) with the rich almond.  He has departed the room with the words, ‘and you can quote me on that’.  So I have.

Ingredients

For the pastry:

225g unsalted butter – straight from the fridge
1 tablespoon golden caster sugar
275g plain flour
2 egg yolks

For the filling:

200g unsalted butter – at room temperature
200g caster sugar
4 eggs
200g ground almonds
1 teaspoon almond extract
250g blueberries
two handfuls of flaked almonds

To serve: thick cream, dusting of icing sugar

Method

Start by making the pastry: place the butter, sugar and flour into a food processor and blitz until you have buttery crumbs.  It won’t be as crumbly as some pastries at this stage. (You can use the rubbing in method if you don’t have a food processor, but as it’s so buttery you might find it tricky).

Add the egg yolks and pulse until the ball of dough is starting to come together.

Tip out onto a piece of clingfilm and work (touching as little as possible) into a fat disc of pastry.

Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or an hour if you can.

Preheat the oven to 190°C/170°C/375°F/gas mark 5.

Roll out the pastry between two sheets of clingfilm until it can line a 25cm loose bottomed flan tin.

Leave the overhanging pastry in place.

Line the pastry case with a sheet of baking paper or foil and weigh down with baking beans.

Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the foil and beans and bake – uncovered – for a further 6 minutes.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool. 

Cut off any excess pastry; most will have fallen off during baking.

Lower the oven temperature to 180°C/160°C/350°F/gas mark 4.

Now make the filling: beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat in the eggs one at a time.  Don’t worry if the mixture starts to curdle.

Beat in the ground almonds and almond extract.

Spread the filling over the pastry case and level the surface.

Sprinkle the blueberries over the top and press down lightly.

Scatter over the flaked almonds.

Bake for approximately 35-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the filling comes out clean.  Don’t worry if it takes longer.

Leave to cool, in the tin, on a wire rack.

Serve either warm, or at room temperature, with thick cream.  Dust with a little icing sugar before serving.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

Rhubarb bakewell tart

The mild winter and recent wet weather have been rather good news for the garden rhubarb and this recipe utilises the first crop from the CCD’s (Caked Crusader’s Da) plant.  OK, so garden rhubarb isn’t as pretty as the pink, forced rhubarb but it’s free...and free rhubarb trumps pink rhubarb any day in my world!

This tart plays with the Bakewell formula in that the jam is replaced by rhubarb puree which, while sweetened, is still tart and gives a delicious contrast with the thick, nutty frangipane.  The pieces of rhubarb on top sink into the frangipane during baking and ooze their acidic fruitiness, meaning that each bite is a taste sensation.

Going into the oven, the rhubarb looks like this:

The roasted rhubarb looked so inviting when it came out of the oven:

Half the rhubarb stays in chunks, the other half is mashed with a fork to make a puree (the replacement for the jam in a bakewell):

I chose to boost the almond by making an almond shortcrust pastry; you could just make your preferred classic shortcrust recipe if you wish – this one’s all about the filling!

If you’re pushed for time, you could roast the rhubarb and make the pastry (keeping it uncooked in the fridge) the day before.  There’s nothing tricky here but there are a few stages and ‘waiting for things to cool’ periods!

Ingredients

For the rhubarb:

500g rhubarb – cut into short lengths i.e about 2cm
75g sugar

For the almond shortcrust pastry:

170g plain flour
60g ground almonds
110g unsalted butter, cold
50g icing sugar
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons cold water

For the frangipane:

150g unsalted butter, at room temperature
150g caster sugar, plus an extra teaspoon for sprinkling
100g ground almonds
2 eggs
½ teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
50g plain flour
Handful of flaked almonds for scattering on top

To serve: thick cream; I chose clotted.  If you serve the tart warm then custard or ice cream

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/gas mark 4.

Place the rhubarb on a baking sheet and sprinkle the sugar over it.

Bake for 20-40 minutes, or until the rhubarb is soft but still holds its shape.  Mine was garden rhubarb so took 40 minutes, forced rhubarb is thinner and will take less time.

Leave to cool, then tip into a dish – juice and all.  You can do this the day before making the tart if you wish (I made it all the same day).

While the rhubarb is cooling, make the pastry: Place the flour and ground almonds in a food processor and briefly pulse until they are combined.

Add the butter, diced into small cubes, and blitz until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. If you don’t have a food processor you can use the rubbing in method.

Add the sugar and blitz briefly.

Add the 2 egg yolks and water and pulse the processor until the dough just starts to come together.

Tip the dough out onto a sheet of clingfilm and bring together into a soft ball.

Flatten the ball into a disc shape (this will make rolling out easier) and wrap in the clingfilm.

Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/gas mark 4.

Roll the chilled pastry out between two sheets of clingfilm and use to line a 23cm loose bottomed round flan tin. No need to grease the tin as the pastry is buttery enough not to stick. It is very important that your pastry has no holes in it so patch carefully if need be! Don’t trim the pastry yet – leave the excess hanging over the side.

Line the pastry with a sheet of baking paper and weigh down with some baking beans.

Bake the pastry case for 15 minutes, then remove the beans and paper and return to the oven for a further 10 minutes.

Leave the pastry case to cool and, when cool, trim off the excess pastry.  I use a serrated bread knife as I find it doesn’t tear at the pastry and I have more control.

Return to the cooled rhubarb and pick out about half the number of pieces and place on a plate.  These will go on top of the tart so pick nice pink pieces!

Tip almost all the baking juices away and mash the remaining rhubarb to a puree.  This won’t be tricky as the rhubarb is soft and a fork should be up to the job!

Put both lots of rhubarb to one side.

Now make the frangipane filling: Place all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and beat until whippy and combined.

Spoon the pureed rhubarb into the bottom of the pastry case.

Spread the rhubarb puree on top and ensure it is evenly spread out – there should be just enough to cover the base; any more than this and the tart will be too sloppy.

Spoon the frangipane onto the rhubarb puree and spread ensuring that it forms a seal with the pastry so no puree will bubble up during cooking.

Arrange the reserved rhubarb pieces on top of the frangipane.

Scatter over a handful of flaked almonds, then finally sprinkle over a teaspoon of sugar.

Bake for approximately 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the frangipane comes out clean.

Leave to cool, in the tin, on a wire rack – only remove from the tin just before serving.

Serve either warm with ice cream or custard, or at room temperature with cream.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have made.

Eat.