Baking well with the Daring Bakers: Strawberry Jam Bakewell Tart

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 are a classic English dessert. There are traditionally two versions. The first, a “pudding” where a layer of jam is covered by an almondy pastry cream and baked in puff pastry. The second, a “tart” where a rich shortcrust pastry holds jam and an almondy sponge cake-like filling. The version we were asked to make is a combination of the two–a sweet almond-flavoured shortcrust pastry layered with jam and frangipane.
If you are interested in learning about the origins and lore behind the tart, Confessions of a Cardamom Addict has a fun writeup.

I don’t have much to say about this challenge except for that it was easy and yummy! I loved the shortcrust pastry, it was so flavorful and baked up beautifully. I will definitely be using it again in other recipes.We were also given the option to make homemade curd or jam to go in our tarts, which I elected to do since the tart recipe was so straightforward. In keeping with my recent obsession with making things in my breadmaker, I made a strawberry jam in my breadmaker. I added a bit of vanilla extract to compliment the almond. I think I may add vanilla from now on to my strawberry jam because it really elevated the flavor of the jam.
Frangipane always goes over well with me since I love marzipan so much, and they definitely have similar flavors. The finished tart was beautiful and a big hit.

Strawberry Jam Bakewell Tart

Sweet shortcrust pastry:
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

Frangipane:
125g (4.5oz) unsalted butter, softened
125g (4.5oz) icing sugar
3 eggs
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract
125g (4.5oz) ground almonds (or other nut of your choice)
30g (1oz) all purpose flour

Jam of your choice (I made strawberry breadmaker jam, I’ve included the recipe at the end!)

Prepare the dough:
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.

Prepare the frangipane:
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.

Assemble 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. Place the tart on a baking sheet line with parchment paper and chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200C/400F. Position a rack in the center of the oven.

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.

* Strawberry Jam
The recipe is from the Zojirushi cooking event that I went to. The only difference is that I added a bit of vanilla extract to mine!
Makes slightly less than 2 cups of jam

2 cups crushed strawberries
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Put all ingredients in the cooking pan of a breadmaker and select the JAM setting and press start!
2. If you want a thicker jam consistency you can add pectin, but I didn’t add any.