The Beginnings of the Bakewell Tart

What is it?

The Bakewell Tart is a shortcrust sweet tart consisting of a layer of jam, an almond frangipane filling, and is topped with sliced almonds.

History of the Dish

Over 160 years ago, a cook at a local inn in Bakewell made a significant mistake while baking that resulted in the creation of the well-known Bakewell tart. This story begins in 1860 in the small town of Bakewell located in the Derbyshire district of England. The mistress of the White Horse Inn, Mrs. Greaves, left instructions to her inexperienced cook on how to make a strawberry jam tart for a nobleman who planned to stay at the inn. The cook, unsupervised and confused by the recipe instructions, made a disastrous mistake. Instead of mixing the almond mixture into the pastry, the cook spread the mixture on top of the jam. This mistake resulted in a new dessert creation known today as the Bakewell tart. While she was angry at the moment, Mrs. Greaves was pleasantly surprised when the new creation was met with a positive reception from the inn's guests. This dish soon became so popular it was named the Bakewell tart after the town of its origins. The tart became so successful that a local woman of Bakewell, Mrs. Willson, purchased the recipe and began selling Bakewell puddings from her home and later opened the Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop. While the true validity of this tale on the origin of the tart as well as the official date of its invention has been highly debated, it remains a classic British story centered around the traditional British dish, the Bakewell tart.

Recipe for Bakewell Tart

Ingredients

For the pastry:

• 200g plain flour

• 1 tbsp icing sugar, plus extra to decorate

• 125g butter

• 1 egg yolk

For the filling:

• 180g butter, softened

• 180g caster sugar

• 3 eggs

• 180g ground almonds

• 1 tsp almond extract

• 200g strawberry or raspberry jam

• 25g flaked almonds

Directions:

1. Gather the ingredients for the pastry

2. Sieve the flour and icing sugar into a bowl. Rub in the butter. Add the egg yolk and 2 tsp water and mix to a firm dough.

3. Roll out onto a lightly floured board and use to line a deep 23cm loose-based, fluted tart tin. Chill for 15 mins.

4. Heat the oven to gas 4, 180°C, fan 160°C. Bake the pastry case ‘blind’ for 15 mins. Remove the paper and baking beans and cook for a further 10 mins until the pastry is dry and a light golden colour. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

5. Gather the ingredients for the filling

6. For the filling, beat together the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the ground almonds and almond extract.

7. Spread the jam over the base of the pastry case

8. Spread the almond filling evenly on top, then sprinkle over the flaked almonds.

9. Bake for 35–40 mins until the frangipane filling is firm and golden brown on top. Allow to cool slightly and serve while just warm or cool completely in the tin. Carefully remove from the tin and dust with icing sugar just before serving