Bakewell Tart

Shortcrust pastry 

6oz flour 

3 oz butter

3 Tbsp ice water (or more if you need it)

Sponge:

4 oz butter

4 oz sugar

6 oz flour

I tsp baking powder

2 eggs

2 Tbsp milk

1/2 tsp almond extract (or a smidge more)

6 Tbsp raspberry jam

Slivered almonds 

Shortcrust pastry base: 

Rub the butter into the flour until you have a texture that resembles breadcrumbs. 

Then slowly add the iced water, and mix to form a dough. 

Roll out the dough and line a 12" x 9" tray bake. The dough will be quite thin.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C (convert to F)

Sponge:

Beat all the sponge ingredients until they're well blended. 

Carefully spread the pastry base with the raspberry jam, if in doubt add a little more jam!

Then dollop on the sponge mixture and smooth out with a fork, taking care not to disturb the jam.

Sprinkle the top with the slivered almonds. 

Bake for about 25 mins until done and the cake has come away from the outside of the pan. 

Allow to cool in the tray bake. 

Scones

June 26th was National Cream Tea day, so in honour of all things British and my fondness for baked goods, I tried Paul Hollywood’s scone recipe.  I loved it! It was super quick to make and fortunately I had some white bread flour in stock to use. The clotted cream is a must with these, and nothing else will suffice I’m sorry to say.

15 ½ oz strong white flour (white bread flour)

3oz butter, softened

3oz sugar

2 eggs

5 tsp baking powder

½ C milk (divided)

1 egg, beaten with a pinch of salt

unsalted butter

raspberry preserves
Devon clotted cream

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Rub the flour and butter together into a large bowl until you get a texture that feels like breadcrumbs.

Add the sugar, eggs and baking powder and gently mix. 

Add ¼ cup of milk and continue to fold in the ingredients until everything is combined. Gradually drizzle in the rest of the milk to form a soft, wet dough. It should be on the sticky side.

Put the dough ball onto a floured table top and dust a little flour on top.

Begin to roll the dough by hand, folding it over in half and turning it 90 degrees.

Do this several times until you’ve formed a smooth dough. 

With a rolling pin roll the dough from the middle away from you, and then from the middle towards you. Turn the dough 90 degrees and roll again until the dough is about 1 inch thick.

Cut out the scones using a round pastry cutter and place them onto a silicone mat on top of a cookie sheet. 

Brush only the tops with the egg mixture and bake for 15 minutes, or until the scones have risen and have a delicious golden color.
Let them cool for a little while, then cut in half, butter, and serve with preserves and a generous dollop of clotted cream.
I think a little high tea is just the thing to have this week, considering Wimbledon has just started!