This recipe is perfect because 1) berries are in season and work perfectly with the almond filling and crisp pastry, and 2) watching Mary Berry on old episodes of The Great British Bake Off never gets old.
The traditional bakewell tart is composed of 4 things:
1) Sweet shortcrust pastry. Mary’s recipe is lightly sweet, super flaky and perfect.
2) Fruit filling. Mary uses a homemade raspberry jam, I used blueberry. Put this down as personal preference.
3) Almond Cream (basically frangipane), is a thick batter-type filling made of finely ground almonds, butter, sugar and eggs.
4) Simple Icing. Mary does this lovely pattern with hers. I just drizzled it everywhere and threw some toasted almonds on top.
Mary’s Bakewell Tart
via Mary Berry and the BBC Servings: 12
For the Wild Blueberry Filling 300g. frozen or fresh wild blueberries 52g. sugar 1 tablespoon cornstarch 2 tablespoons lemon juice (to taste)
For the Sweet Shortcrust Pastry 225g. all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting 150g. butter, chilled 25g. icing sugar 1 egg, beaten
For the Almond Filling 150g. butter, softened 150g. caster sugar 150g. ground almonds 1 egg, beaten 1 tsp almond extract (I replaced with vanilla extract)
For the Icing 300g. powdered sugar 3 tablespoons milk (give or take, use enough to get a thick spreadable consistency) sliced almonds, toasted, for garnish
1) For the jam, put the blueberries in a medium saucepan. Mix the sugar and cornstarch together and add to the blueberry mixture. Cook over medium heat until sugar dissolves and mixture begins to thicken and lightly simmer. Add lemon juice to taste.
2) For the pastry, measure the flour into a bowl and rub in the butter using your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs (or use a pastry cutter). Stir in the icing sugar. Add the egg and 2 tablespoons cold water, mixing to form a soft dough.
3) Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface to the thickness of a pound coin (Mary’s words). Line a 9-inch fluted tart pan (I used a 13″ by 4″ rectangular tart pan) and transfer to the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
4) Preheat the oven to 390F.
5) Line the chilled tart shell with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or unbaked beans. Bake blind for 15 minutes, then remove the beans and paper and cook for a another 5 minutes to dry out the base. Set aside to cool a little before adding the filling. When mostly cooled, spread 3/4 cup of blueberry filling on the base of the tart shell.
6) For the almond filling, cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add the ground almonds, egg and almond extract and mix together. Spoon the mixture into the pastry case and smooth the surface using a palette knife.
7) Reduce the oven temperature to 350F and bake for 25–35 minutes, until golden-brown and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely in the pan (I let it sit in the fridge overnight).
8) For the icing, whisk together the powdered sugar and the milk until smooth.
9) When the tart has cooled completely, drizzle the icing on top and sprinkle with toasted almonds. Serve.
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