What's a Ladywell tart? A Bakewell tart made with rhubarb
instead of raspberries. What's a Bakewell tart? For those who don't
reside in the UK a Bakewell tart is a sweet shortcrust pastry base with cooked
down raspberries (raspberry jam) topped with a frangipane (a sort of cake mix
made with almonds). There is the Bakewell tart and Bakewell pudding.
Is there a difference? Yes, a tart is made with a short crust
pastry topped with an almond sponge mix and pudding made with a flaky pastry
topped with an egg and almond paste. Both contain raspberry jam. Oh
the stuff you see with a fondant on top.. most people would not consider it a
true Bakewell anything. I say "meh".
So I am making a Ladywell tart (I made up the name, but it is a
place not too far from where I live), and I will be going through all the steps and giving you the final verdict. There will be a separate comparison on a different page. Is this
something that could be easily bought out? Or is it an exercise of ease
itself?
To start the pastry. - (19.00 mins)
This recipe comes from the Jamie Oliver Great Britain cook book:
250gs plain flour
100g icing sugar
125g cool unsalted butter cubed
1 zest of a large orange
1 large egg
splash of milk - again with the unquantifiable measure. I
just did two tips of the milk carton for a second each.
Sift the flour and icing sugar into a bowl (sifting helps to add
air into the mix), cut the butter into small cubes (this helps with the rubbing
in).
Rub in the mixture between your thumb and fingers, for those who
are unsure what I mean watch this clip that explains all (it really is simple
once you know how) a 16 second clip but does what it says on the tin
Do this until it resembles fine breadcrumbs take a few minutes
depending on how small you cut your blocks of butter. I wouldn't really
advice grating the butter as it will start to melt too quickly. It really
doesn't take too long to do.
Grate in the zest of the orange - do this directly into the bowl
as you will get all the oil as well as the zest - intensifies the flavour and
could mean you use less liquid later.
Finally add in the liquid bit by bit until the mixture starts to
come together. Depending on how dry your flour was to start with will
depend on how much liquid you need. I think I added a little TOO much so
had to add large pinchfuls of flour to try and get it back to where it should
be. i.e. my fingers and nails going straight through the pastry. Leave to
cool in the fridge for about 30 mins (I then froze mine to make on a later day
- getting ahead so when I come to cook the thing I'm not a Tasmanian Devil ball
of stress).
The rhubarb mix: (12 mins)
Cut about 4-5 stalks of rhubarb in to small-ish 1-2cm bits.
Place in pan with a small amount of water (enough to cover the bottom of the
pan) and add a tablespoon of caster sugar. Cook down for about 10-15
mins. This next bit is a little tricky, you want to add enough sugar to
take the edge off but keep the flavour, but with all the sugar in the pastry
and frangipane too much sugar will turn it too sweat. I added a
further 5 teaspoons. This is very much dependent on taste and how
sweet/sharp the rhubarb was to start with. But as I say don't put too
much otherwise it will be horrible.
The frangipane mix: (32 mims)
200g ground almonds (pre ground, unless you have an industrial
grinder they will never be that finely ground)
250g cold unsalted butter cut into small cubes
250g caster sugar
3 eggs
zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange
60g plain flour.
Now this took longer than it should have done as my hand mixer
started making some funny noises during the creaming bit. But cream the
butter and sugar together until light and fluffy - this can be done in a
mixer but I do like to martyr myself somewhat. Add the eggs one by one
and make sure it is well mixed in before adding the next egg. Why egg,
sugar and butter don't mix well is a mystery. Once that is all combined
add lemon and orange zest (into the bowl), mix in. Add the almonds, mix
in, finally add the flour, mix in - there is a lot of mixing.
Now with the exception of the frangipane this can be made in
stages in advance (just not the frangipane since it is a batter,
it won't stay good for very long) or while things are resting in the
fridge or blind baking in the over.
So once pastry is made it need to go back in the fridge for 30
mins (I froze mine and let if defrost slowly in the fridge over night and all
day), this has to be done otherwise the butter will melt and you will have a
horrendous mess.
Once cold, roll out on a cold surface dusted with flour, dust your
rolling pin and roll your pastry thin, not too thin, I did mine to about 0.5mm,
that may have been a little too thin as it shrank back in the oven. Just
make sure it will comfortably fit over your tin, my is 25cms, this should not take any more than 5-8 mins. Careful not to add
too much flour as it can affect the pastry.
Cut down some of the excess pastry around the edges, place back in
fridge for another 30mins (you can see how you can the other bits and pieces in
between if you wanted to - or just sit back and have a cup of tea
instead). 15 mins before tart is ready to blind back, pre-heat the oven
to 180c (gas mark 4 or 350f). 30 mins up prick the pastry all over, cover with
scrunched up grease proof paper (baking or parchment will also do). Add
your baking beans, normal beans or rice place in over for 12 mins, after 12
mins take out the paper and it's baking aides and put back in the over for
another 5 mins. I put a baking tray directly under the tin as I don't
want a soggy bottom... no sir I don't! No body likes a soggy bottom
tart.... Do this for the first 12 minutes as it will create a darker bottom
if you leave it any longer.
Once all that is done you are very nearly finished. Add most
of the rhubarb mix to the bottom on the tart (I think I added a bit too much)
you want a nice covering but not so think it fights with everything else, if
you have left over’s mix it in with some ice cream or the likes as a separate
dessert. Then gently add all the frangipane mix, taking it all the way
over to the edge of the pastry. Don't worry if some of the pastry has
shrunk away from the sides - unless you are entering this into a competition of
some sort then worry!
Place back in the over (no baking try needed) for about 45 mins.
ta da!!!!
In fact I could have added ALL the rhubarb mix,
and the tin I used is a little small I think for this, but it went down a treat
and is something I will be making again.
So now for the scale:
Faff: 4 -
Time: 3 - This is a little tricky as I made this over a few days but
the last time I made it in one go I guess it would take 2-3 hours from start to
finish. I also make everything by hand and that takes time, using machines will take a little less prep time, but you still will need to chill and blind bake which does take time. The pastry is very needy at times and you can't always sit back
and relax with this.
Smug: 4 - very very smug that this has worked
again.
So this recipe takes a lot to do, a good amount of time, but it is
really worth it!!!!!
Is life too short for this sort of thing? It certainly wasn't an exercise of ease but, what else
were you going to do today... go on be brave do something different :)
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