Bakewell tart

Bakewell tart

Kindly provided by Richard Burr

Prep Time

30mins

Cook Time

50mins

Makes

1 bakewell tart

Difficulty

Medium

Method

To make the jam:

Start by making the jam. Put the sugar, raspberries and lemon juice into a saucepan and set over a low heat, until simmering. 1 Keep the jam at a low simmer for 10-20 minutes until the jam passes the drip test: a 2p sized blob of jam when left on a cold plate for 20 seconds should ripple up when pushed with your finger.

1 Take the jam off the heat and leave to cool. It will still be quite liquidy at this stage, but will thicken up as it cools.

To make the pastry:

Make the pastry by dicing the butter and putting into a bowl with the flour, sugar and salt. Use 2 knives to chop the butter into the flour using a scissoring motion with one knife in each hand. This should take about 5 minutes, but is a much better method than teasing together with your fingers if you have hot hands (like me!).

Once the flour mixture resembles bread crumbs (you can use your hands to finish it off if you want) mix the egg yolk with the water and sprinkle over the surface of the flour. 2 Tip the pastry mix onto a work surface and gently bring together with your hands. 3 Shape into a 15cm disc, wrap in cling film and leave in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.

While the pastry is chilling you can make the frangipane. Beat together the butter and the sugar with an electric hand whisk until a smooth, creamy consistency is achieved (this will be much easier and quicker if the butter is room temperature). Thoroughly beat in the eggs one by one, making sure to add the flour if the mixture looks like it is going to split.

Fold in the rest of the flour, essence and the ground almonds, then cover and set aside or load into a piping bag if you have one.

Take the chilled pastry out of the fridge and roll out on a lightly floured surface to around 28cm diameter. Remember to keep the pastry moving so it doesn’t stick to the surface. Roll the pastry up onto your rolling pin, then gently lay into a 23cm (9 inch) tart tin. Press the pastry into the shape of the tin, folding the excess over the outside edge.

Prick the base of the pastry with a fork and return to the fridge for a further 20 minutes to chill. Set the oven to 200oC / 180oC fan / gas mark 6 to heat up.

Take the tin with chilled pastry out of the fridge, lay some baking parchment into the case and fill with baking beans. Bake for 15 minutes, then take the baking beans out and bake for another 5-7 minutes until the case is golden brown. Take out and allow to cool. Set the oven to 190oC / 170oC fan / gas mark 5.

When cool, with a serrated knife, cut the excess pastry off of the case and spread 3-4 tbsp of the cooled jam in the bottom. Spoon (or pipe) the frangipane on top of the jam and spread out evenly with a palette knife. Return to the oven for 35-40 minutes until a golden brown has formed on the surface of the frangipane, then take out and set on a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the icing:

Make up the icing by beating 400g of the icing sugar and the hot water together to make a stiff glace icing. Push the 5 raspberries through a sieve with a spoon, collect the juice and mix with the remaining icing sugar. Load the pink raspberry icing into a small piping bag.

Spread the white icing out over the surface of the tart with a palette knife, making sure not to go over the edges, then pipe 1cm dots of pink icing around the edge of the tart (about 3cm apart).

Before the icing has time to set, drag a cocktail stick around the edge of the tart, through the pink blobs to create heart shapes (you will need to wipe the cocktail stick clean a few times to stop it dragging too much icing).

Decorate with a few leftover raspberries and serve.