1940’s Bakewell Tart

I got back into my kitchen this week. I’ve been out of it due to a 35c heatwave and to look at the rain beating down now, you would never know.

The first thing I baked was out of my Nanas book. Bakewell Tart. No almonds in this one though and I have to say it’s still lovely.

The oven temperature in the book is very high for sponges so as always a little tweaking was necessary. The pastry should be thin, not see through but thinner than you may think, simply because that’s how it bakes properly.

You will need a bowl, an 8-inch flan dish or another shallow ovenproof dish.

Oven temperature is GM 6 then down to GM4 or 200c down to 180c

Time 20 mins prep 30 mins cooking

Ingredients

For the pastry

225 g plain flour
100 g butter or baking margarine
Cold water
For the Bakewell
2 tablespoons strawberry jam
75 g self raising flour
75 g baking butter or margarine
75 g caster sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Method

To make the pastry, rub the butter/margarine into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs.
Make a dip in the middle and add 2 tablespoons of cold water, mixing it all in to create a ball of dough, keep adding water a tablespoon at a time until you have a semi tight soft dough that does not crumble apart. If it gets wet and sticky, add a tablespoon of flour and knead it in.
You can make this using half the pastry, the other half can go in a freezer bag and freeze until you need it*
Roll out the pastry and carefully line your dish. Because the pastry is thin there is no need to blind bake it. Spread the jam over the base.
Beat the butter and the sugar to a cream. Add the egg and lemon juice, beat until smooth. Finally add the flour and baking powder mixing to a smooth thick batter.
Spread the batter over the jam evenly and bake in the middle of the oven for 10 minutes at the higher temperature and then 20 minutes at the lower until the top is dark golden brown.
Serve on its own or with custard, ice cream or my favourite evaporated milk.