Saturday, June 27, 2009

Daring Bakers Challenge June 2009 - 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.

Make sure to check their blog out for the interesting story of how this dessert was born.

In a nutshell:

1 - a shell of sweet shortcrust pastry
2 - a layer of jam
3 - a layer of frangipane

It was not something completely new for me, I remember my mother making something like this for a few years when I was a teenager, only with a sponge instead of frangipane. That was a bit dry, though.

The Shortcrust



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

Rub the (cold) butter into the flour, mix the dry ingredients, add the liquid ingredients, don't sweat it too much, make a ball, let it rest in the fridge.

The Jam

Posted already

The 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 the butter with sugar, add the eggs (one at a time), the almond extract, then spoon the flours in.

The threesome is ready to be assembled:



Now spread:



Now pour:



Aaaand level:



Bake it at 200°C/400°F for about half an hour.







Serve with creme fraiche.

We had a slice a few hours after baking it, and we had different opinions in the house: while my husband thought the jam was way too tangy and predominant, I thought the exact opposite and could taste only the almonds in the frangipane. Either way, it didn't seem a good pair (the kids just gobbled it down and off they went towards new adventures).
That all went away the day after, and it was even better the third day, when the tastes melted together and rounded off, thus giving a good and well chosen combination.


Inspired by other Daring Bakers, who always try to give a savoury version of a sweet recipe and vice versa, I thought of the classic pairing between gorgonzola and walnuts.



I skipped sugar in both the shortcrust and the frangipane, and substituted walnut flour for the almond's. In the jam's place was a mix of gorgonzola and cream cheese.




Good thing I made tartelettes, because the taste is so strong it saturates all your taste buds in a sec.
I had served it with acacia honey just because I thought it was a cute add, but honey is really essential to balance and dilute the strenght of it.

29 comments:

  1. What a pretty tart! I love your choice of filling! Very well done!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  2. Great job you did! I remember seeing your pics on the DB forum and thinking wow! :D

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  3. Your sweet tart came out beautiful, but I'm in love with your svaory little gorgonzola-cream cheese tarts! So creative and mouth watering! Nicely done in all aspects!

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  4. Love your sharp pics, the tiny tarts are very cute :)

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  5. Beautiful jam in the middle, it looks lovely. I feel I should have tried a savoury version, yours sounds great.

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  6. Brilliant on both counts...sweet & savoury! Both good looking tarts & so well done. Love the savoury idea...WOW!!

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  7. Great job! I love your daring idea, even if it was too strong, now you can work on the recipe to make it tastier.

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  8. Walnut flour and a mix of gorgonzola and cream cheese WOW and a blackcurrant one you did a fab job on this challenge. Love the pixs also. I think both would be lovely the sweet/tartness of the blackcurrants in the bakewell and the savoury one sounds to die for. Both are so cute. Cheers from Audax

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  9. I love the sound of the black currant jam, it's something I could definitely see myself making. Your tarts are stunning and your photography is beautiful too :)

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  10. Your filling choices make me smile. Yum.

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  11. I loved your simple blog entry with photos mostly telling the story! Your savory sounds quite interesting too. Well done!

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  12. Glorious post with all of the components shown and that great little savory bite at the end. Perhaps tone donw the cheese with more cream cheese or some mellow mozzarella?

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  13. Yum!! Beautiful job with the tart and tarlettes =D. I love the photos!!

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  14. Beautifully done! I like how you made the savory kind too - what an awsome combination.

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  15. Great job on your challenge and I love your flavours.

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  16. Love all of the pictures! Great job!

    Your savory option is really interesting!

    Connie @ Tales From The Fridge

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  17. Love, love, love the savory tart! I think an onion jam layer between the cheese and the frangipane would cut the richness of the gorgonzola nicely.

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  18. Beautiful tart! I am in love with your mini tarts with gorgonzola. Very creative!

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  19. well done! and very clever with the savory version.

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  20. I love your savoury version--yes, I think it would be strong, but it sounds divine with the honey.

    Thanks for participating!
    j

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  21. What a wonderful job! I love your tarts!!! Can I have a slice?

    Thanks for visiting my blog :D

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  22. Both sweet and savoury looked wonderful! Well done

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  23. Are the pictures deceiving? or did you marble the frangipane with the jam? Looks delicious no matter what?

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  24. Delicious! Your tart look so Tasty I going to try it to make it !

    Thanks for sharing your wonderful Tart recipe:)


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  25. Mmmmmmmm. Delicious Bakewell tart and beautiful mini tarts, so cute.

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  26. Very creative combinations, especially the gorgonzola. Glad the kids liked it and that it disappeared in only a few days.

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  27. I love frangipane!!! anna.... I think you should really be closer to me!

    e le foto che fai??? che belle!!! secondo me, con 'sta passione dovresti fare qualcosa.
    altrochè!!

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  28. Your tart pictures are so good!! And your tart looks amazing! Sorry it took me so long to respond--I've been out of town and didn't have access to a computer. I'll email you and catch you up on the latest. :)

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