A Bakewell tart

Our friend Jean is an accomplished baker. Her cakes and pies are always delicious and we always enjoy them. Last year, she shared with me a recipe for Bakewell tart, a local specialty from the town of Bakewell in Derbyshire, England, near to where she is from. The tart is made in a pâte brisée (what I would call a standard pie crust), with a layer of jam and a filling made with ground almonds.

The finished tart can be served plain or sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Interestingly, the link to the recipe that Jean provided had somehow been modified and, when I followed it, led to a different version of the Bakewell which called for fresh blueberries in place of the traditional layer of red jam. Since I have blueberries in the freezer (from our berry-picking adventure in June), I decided to give it a try.

Blueberry Bakewell tart fresh from the oven. Sliced almonds are baked onto the top.

The photos here are from my first Bakewell a couple of weeks ago. I used the berries still frozen and they released a little too much juice into the tart while cooking. The filling didn't set up as firmly as it should have. Still, it was mighty tasty. Last week, I made another one, but I let the berries thaw and drained the liquid off before adding them to the tart. The second tart had a much firmer texture and was as delicious as the first. Good thing, too, because I made it to share with Jean and her husband.

Here's a link to the recipe. It makes individual tarts, but I used it to make one larger tart with no trouble.