Piggy’s Bakewell Tart

This is a bit of a mish-mash of recipes. I’ve used Ottolenghi’s recipe for sweet pastry and Felicity Cloake’s recipe for the filling.

The culmination of both was a success, if a lemony one. I should have omitted the lemon zest from the tart filling as there was some in the pastry too.

This makes double the pastry quantity needed for this recipe. I froze half and used it about a month later, it was just as good as when fresh.

For sweet pastry:
330g plain flour
100g icing sugar
grated zest of 1/2 lemon
1/4 tsp salt
180g cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp cold water

Put the flour, icing sugar, lemon zest and salt in a bowl and add the butter. Rub it in with your hands or using a mixer fitted with the beater attached. You can also use a food processor. Mix until you get a coarse breadcrumb consistency, making sure there are no large lumps of butter left.

Add the egg yolk and water and mix just until the dough comes together, do not mix any longer than necessary. You may need to add a tiny bit of extra water.

Remove the dough from the bowl and knead very lightly for a few seconds only, just to shape it into a smooth disc, 5-6cm thick. Wrap in cling film and chill until ready to use (chill for at least an hour). The pastry will keep for a week in the fridge or at least a month in the freezer. Preheat oven to 190C (170C fan oven)/gas mark 5.

Grease a 23cm tart tin and roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface until large enough to line the tin. Line tin with pastry, then line the pastry with baking paper and weigh down with baking beans. Bake for about 15 minutes until golden.

For the frangipane:
110g butter
110g caster sugar
2 eggs
110g ground almonds
25g plain flour
½tsp baking powder
Zest of ½ lemon

To make the frangipane, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy, then beat in the eggs. Fold in the dry ingredients and zest and a pinch of salt.

There is also a recipe if you wish to make your own compote. I took the simple route and used shop bought raspberry jam. I did sieve out the seeds though.

For the compote (or use 100g low-sugar raspberry jam):
250g raspberries (fresh or frozen)
25-35g caster sugar depending on sweetness of tooth
Juice of ½ lemon
25g flaked almonds, to top

To make the compote by putting the berries into a small pan with the sugar and lemon juice and bringing to the boil. Simmer for about 12 minutes until thickened. Allow to cool slightly.

Remove the paper and beans and return the pastry to the oven for a couple of minutes until golden. Spread the compote over the base, and top with the frangipane.

Level out and bake for 25 minutes until golden and well risen. Add the almonds on top in the last 5 minutes of cooking.

The added baking powder in the frangipane gives extra lift and makes it nice and light. If you like lemon, then this recipe is perfect for you. Otherwise, I’d omit the zest from the frangipane but keep the zest in the pastry.