Bakewell Tart…er…Pudding

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…er…puddings combine a number of dessert elements but still let you show off your area’s seasonal fruits. They are a classic English dessert that you can enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee or just eat it sneaky slice by sneaky slice until, to your chagrin, you realize the whole tart has somehow disappeared despite you never having pulled out a plate, fork or napkin with which to eat it.

Someone once said something like “The Bakewell pudding is a dessert. The Bakewell tart is that girl over there.”

It’s a debate that rages on and we aren’t taking sides on this one. But we will say that many people call this pudding a tart.

This makes one 9” tart or you can make individual little ones.

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 egg yolks
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract (optional)
15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) cold water

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

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. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Frangipane

125g (4.5oz) unsalted butter, softened
125g (4.5oz) icing sugar
3 (3) eggs
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract
125g (4.5oz) ground almonds
30g (1oz) all purpose flour

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.

Assembling the tart

Sweet shortcrust pastry
1/4 cup to 1 cup jam or curd, warmed for spreadability
One quantity frangipane
One handful blanched, flaked almonds for top
Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

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. Remove from oven and strew flaked almonds on top and return to the heat for the last five minutes of baking.

The finished tart will have a golden crust and the frangipane will be tanned, poofy and a bit spongy-looking. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter. Serve warm, with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard sauce if you wish.

When you slice into the tart, the almond paste will be firm, but slightly squidgy and the crust should be crisp but not tough.

And now for my tasters...My dear friend Randy, who always lets me know that he never gets to taste my challenges, finally was the first one to taste it...and he really liked it!

And Dan...hmmm after saying it was jammy - he just kept repeating " a tart er ....pudding" ..." a tart er ....pudding"....and yes he likes it too. He liked the jammy taste combined with the almonds.

Until we bake again...

Penny

Artos: A Greek Celebration Bread

The Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge #2

This bread was huge!!!! When I took it out of the oven my sister Arlene's first words were
" WOW....My Big Fat Greek Wedding Bread!"
Then Dan walked in the kitchen and said it looked like a hot cross bun on steroids...The next day Joanne walked into the kitchen and at a quick glance thought it was a turkey.
Oh well!

I knew this one was a little too big when Peter Reinhart's instructions said to roll out the ropes of dough that are draped over the bread to 10 inches. Mine needed to be double the length to get around this puppy. YIKES!!! I know why...I went out with my sister...lost track of time...and when we got home and spotted the bread from the outside of the house, I knew we were in trouble. I was actually worried that it wouldn't fit in the oven, let alone get bigger when baking. I was imagining it expanding so much the oven door would start opening and the bread would escape.
OK, I'm exagerating, a little.

This was the 2nd bread in the Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge and is usually made at Greek Easter or Christmas, but it was fun making it now too. I shaped this one like the Christopsomos, but because some of the tasters were not really fond of raisins and nuts in bread, I left those out and it was still very good.

This isn't a difficult bread to make and is great toasted for breakfast because it has cinnamon and cloves in it ...ummmm....and of course don't forget to slather it with butter . It also freezes well! I took some out of the freezer when my Dad and Ruth were over and they liked it too.
By the way...I have a lot in the freezer :)

Until we bake again...
Penny

Orange Scones

I love scones and I love Ina!

I love Ina Garten , the Barefoot Contessa, and regularly refer to her cookbooks - I have them all. Last week I baked scones ...What a wonderful feeling when you wake up to the buttery tempting smell of freshly baked scones! It simply starts the day off well. My step-daughter, Meredith, came from New Brunswick, to stay with us for a month.... why do I have a problem with that word step-daughter, step-mother? It just reminds me of the evil step-mother in Cinderella. I am not an evil stepmother...why doesn't someone invent another word??? Any ideas?

Well moving along...Meredith is allergic to nuts, so of course I am very very careful with all my ingredients! The original recipe called for cranberries, but the package did not convince me it was free of nuts, while the currants package met the criteria. So I adapted the recipe and it was very very well received!

To make scones light and flaky it is important that there are pieces of butter in the dough (looks like marble) and it is not completely blended in.
I often dice the butter then leave it in the freezer for a bit while I get all the rest of my ingredients in place, mise en place.

Here is the recipe for orange scones with currants (I have also used dried strawberries as well)

4 cups plus ¼ cup All Purpose Flour
¼ cup granulated sugar plus extra for sprinkling
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons grated orange zest
¾ pound (3 sticks) cold unsalted butter diced and frozen
4 extra large eggs lightly beaten
1 cup (1/2 pint) cold heavy cream
1 cup currants
1 egg beaten with 2 tablespoons water for egg wash
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
4 teaspoons freshly squeezed orange juice

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
Line a sheet pan with parchment paper
Mix 4 cups of the flour, ¼ cup of granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, and orange zest in the mixer with a paddle attachment.
Add the cold butter and mix at the lowest speed until the butter is the size of peas
Combine the eggs and heavy cream and with the mixer on low speed, slowly add to the flour and butter mixture. Mix until JUST blended….still lumpy!
Combine the currants and a quarter cup of flour then add to the dough -_mix on lowest speed until just blended.

Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and knead it into a ball . Flour your hands and a rolling pin and roll out until almost 1 inch thick.

Do you see the butter in the dough? GOOD! If you don't...it's too late to fix so just keep going. They just won't be as flaky.

Keep moving the dough around the floured board so it doesn’t stick. Flour a 3 inch round or square cutter. Keep dipping the cutter in the flour so it doesn’t stick. Place the cut scones on the sheet pan about 1 inch apart. Gather scraps, roll out and cut more circle or squares.
Brush the tops with the egg wash and sprinkle with granulated sugar.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops are browned and the insides fully baked – should be firm to the touch.

Allow to cool completely then whisk together the confectioners’ sugar and orange juice and drizzle over the scones.

On the 2nd day, if they are still around, they are great toasted with a little butter.

These are delightful…when my son Elliot and his friend Anthony waltzed into the kitchen, they grabbed about three each..and Meredith...she loved them too and appreciated a dessert without nuts. Dan took them for lunch and said they were awesome... And yes I did see you sneaking them my dear sister Arlene, so I know you liked them!


Until we bake again...

Penny