The Cherry Bakewell Tart

For me nothing says Christmas like the bakewell tart. The sweet smell of almonds. The impeccable white cap of icing and the ornate glacé cherry on top. I do not know exactly where or when my love affair with the bakewell tart began... probably from Christmas' past. After years of buying store bought Bakewell's out of shear convenience and thinking anything I made will ever compare. I recoiled from making them. That was until now.  

The bakewell tarts I made, pictured above, are less manufactured and more a reflection of sweet admiration. Easy and simply divine these Bakewell tarts will have one never look at store bought again. Sorry Mr. Kipling...  

 Cherry Bakewell Tart   

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makes about 20 tarts

Filling:

Scant 1/4 cup raspberry jam or strawberry jam

1 stick (1/2 cup) of butter, softened

1/2 cup superfine caster sugar

2 eggs
1/2 cup ground almonds

1/3 cup self-rising flour, sifted 

1 teaspoon almond essence

Icing:
1 cup confectioner's sugar, sifted
1/4 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract, pure or imitation is fine

1 tablespoon hot water, approximately

glacé cherries sliced in half 

Pastry Crust:
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons cold water 

Mix flour and salt together in a larger bowl. Add the oil and mix with a fork until it looks crumbly, like meal. Sprinkle in the water and mix with a fork. If the pastry is a bit dry  then add more cold water. I find that I need to add about 2-3 more tablespoons of cold water. Gather the dough and press into a ball. Roll out in-between sheets of wax paper.

1. Make the pastry crust. 

2. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Grease a patty/muffin pan(s). I used a non-stick muffin pan therefore I did not need to grease it. Roll out the pastry and cut as many circles, as the patty/muffin tin will hold... 6, 12, 24, using a 3 in/7.5 cm cutter. Use to line the prepared pans and spread a little jam in the base of each. 

3. Beat together the butter and sugar, then beat in the eggs, one at a time, adding half the ground almonds after each one. Add the flour and almond essence and stir well. 

4. Spoon batter into the pastry cases and bake for 20 minutes until well risen, firm and golden. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the pans.

5. Combine the confectioner's sugar, almond extract and enough hot water to make a  thin icing. When the tarts have cooled, spoon the icing over the tops. Decorate each with a  whole glacé cherry or half a glacé cherry.   

Notes: You may use whatever recipe you like for the pastry or even buy ready made tart shells to save time. Again, I used a non-stick muffin pan so I did not need to grease the pan.