June 27, 2009

Fruit & Amaretto Bakewell Tart







The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.
Bakewell tarts…er…puddings combine a number of dessert elements but still let you show off your area’s seasonal fruits.




The history of the bakewell tart is provided by the awesome Jasmine. Her write up was simply too wonderful not to share it with you.




This was a fabulous dessert that I served for Father's Day. We relaxed on the patio after playing golf and enjoyed a cool glass of iced tea along with these wonderful tarts.



Bakewell Tart History and Lore



Flan-like desserts that combine either sweet egg custard over candied fruit or feature spiced ground almonds in a pastry shell have Mediaeval roots. The term “Bakewell pudding” was first penned in 1826 by Meg Dods; 20 years later Eliza Acton published a recipe that featured a baked rich egg custard overtop 2cm of jam and noted, “This pudding is famous not only in Derbyshire, but in several of our northern counties where it is usually served on all holiday occasions.”



By the latter half of the 1800s, the egg custard evolved into a frangipane-like filling; since then the quantity of jam decreased while the almond filling increased.



This tart, like many of the world's great foods has its own mythic beginnings…or several mythic beginnings. Legend has it in 1820 (or was it in the 1860s?) Mrs. Greaves, landlady of The White Horse Inn in Bakewell, Derbyshire (England), asked her cook to produce a pudding for her guests. Either her instructions could have been clearer or he should have paid better attention to what she said because what he made was not what she asked for. The cook spread the jam on top of the frangipane mixture rather than the other way around. Or maybe instead of a sweet rich shortcrust pastry case to hold the jam for a strawberry tart, he made a regular pastry and mixed the eggs and sugar separately and poured that over the jam—it depends upon which legend you follow.



Regardless of what the venerable Mrs. Greaves’ cook did or didn’t do, lore has it that her guests loved it and an ensuing pastry-clad industry was born. The town of Bakewell has since played host to many a sweet tooth in hopes of tasting the tart in its natural setting.



Bakewell tarts are a classic English dessert, abounding in supermarket baking sections and in ready-made, mass-produced forms, some sporting a thick sugary icing and glazed cherry on top for decorative effect.



Enjoy it with a cup of tea or coffee or just eat it sneaky slice by sneaky slice until, to your chagrin, you realise the whole tart has somehow disappeared despite you never having pulled out a plate, fork or napkin with which to eat it.



Is it a tart or is it a pudding?



Someone once said something like “The Bakewell pudding is a dessert. The Bakewell tart is that girl over there.”



It’s a debate that rages on and we aren’t taking sides on this one. But we will say that many people call this pudding a tart.



While we’re at it...The etymology of pudding is a rather interesting and slightly convoluted one.* The naming confusion may come from the British manner of referring to the dessert course as ‘pudding’ (as well as referring to fat babies by the same name, though we don’t think that is what was the inspiration in this case). And so any dessert is a pudding until another name comes along and adds clarity to what it really is.



Bakewell Tart…er…pudding



Makes 2 small tarts


Prep time: less than 10 minutes (plus time for the individual elements)


Resting time: 15 minutes


Baking time: 30 minutes


Equipment needed: 23cm (9”) tart pan or pie tin (preferably with ridged edges), rolling pin



Assembling the tart




Place the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it's overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimatised for about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 5mm (1/4”) thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the centre and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to the tart pan, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.



Preheat oven to 200C/400F.



Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base. Top with frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart. Smooth the top and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. Five minutes before the tart is done, the top will be poofy and brownish. Remove from oven and strew flaked almonds on top and return to the heat for the last five minutes of baking.



The finished tart will have a golden crust and the frangipane will be tanned, poofy and a bit spongy-looking. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter. Serve warm, with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard sauce if you wish.



When you slice into the tart, the almond paste will be firm, but slightly squidgy and the crust should be crisp but not tough.





Sweet shortcrust pastry



Prep time: 15-20 minutes


Resting time: 30 minutes (minimum)


Equipment needed: bowls, box grater, cling film



56 g (2 oz) brown rice, sweet rice & arrowroot flour, almond meal (14 g each)


8 g (1/4 oz) sugar


1 g (1/8 tsp) salt


27 g (1 oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)


1 (1) egg yolks


1.25 ml (1/4 tsp) Amaretto


3 - 8 ml (1/4 - 1/2 Tb) cold water



Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.



Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.



Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.





Frangipane



Prep time: 10-15 minutes


Equipment needed: bowls, hand mixer, rubber spatula



31 g (1.12 oz) unsalted butter, softened


31 g (1.12 oz) icing sugar


1 (1) eggs


4 ml (3/4 tsp) Amaretto


31 g (1.125 oz) ground almonds


8 g (1/4 oz) brown rice flour (2 g), sweet rice flour (4 g), arrowroot starch (2 g)



Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is primrose in colour and very fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle. In the words of Douglas Adams: Don’t panic. Really. It’ll be fine. After all three are in, pour in the almond extract and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well. The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the almonds) and retain its pallid yellow colour.

June 3, 2009

Raisin Cinnamon Swirl Bread (B&P16)



Baking & Pastry Project #16 - Raisin Cinnamon Swirl Bread

I have an admission to make...I'm not my neighbor's favorite person. Actually, my neighbor isn't fond of any of us. We set her teeth on edge. We're outdoor loving, gardening, barbeque cooking, skate boarding, scootering and ball playing folks. She can't stand it. Believe it or not, she's a school teacher who believes that children should play at the play ground and not in their own yards.

And now, we're going to thrill her even more...with drums. Our son, has been taking drum lessons and is now ready for a full drum set. The set, an older one that belongs to his uncle, is coming around the end of the month. My brother got a real kick introducing our son to the drums, since he knows about our neighbor. Although, he lives in Atlanta and no where near the vocal proximity of our neighbor.

The other morning, while we were discussing what our neighbor was going to say about the noise from the drum set, we noshed on toasted slices of raisin cinnamon swirl bread and cream cheese. Well, we'll wait to see what she says. Maybe now that her kids have gone away to college, and there aren't any more situations involving friend's who need remedial driver's education, skipping school, and standardized tests, she'll be a little more charitable. One can only hope.

Recipe
Yield: 1 loaf

Protein Amounts in parenthesis
Original protein content: 17.55 g
GF protein content: 17.005 g

3 1/8 tsp/15 g brown rice flour (1.35 g)
1 3/8 Tb/20 g sweet rice flour (1.2 g)
1 3/8 Tb/20 g arrowroot starch (0.06g)
1 3/4 Tb/25 g almond meal (5 g)
1 3/8 Tb + dash/24 g millet flour (2.76 g)
1 3/4 Tb/ 25 g white bean flour (5.375 g)
1 1/4 tsp/ 6 g chia seed meal (1.26 g)
2 3/8 tsp/11 g instant dry yeast
3/8 tsp/2 g agar agar powder
1 1/2 Tb/21 g cane sugar
1 tsp/5 g sea salt
3 Tb/42 g raisins
1/3 - 1/2 cup/100-125 ml whole milk, room temperature
1 1/2 Tb/21 g butter, soft
1 1/2 Tb/21 g eggs
5/8 tsp/3 g ground cinnamon

1. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients, except the cinnamon. Pour in the butter, eggs and milk then stir together. As you stir, pour in the cinnamon, so that it creates a swirl through the dough. Line a 7 1/2 x 3 3/4 x 2 1/4 inch(19 x 10 x 6 cm) loaf pan with parchment paper. Pour the dough into the loaf pan. Cover and allow to rise for 1 ½ hours.


2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F/191 degrees C and bake for 20 minutes. Prop open the door of the oven and allow the bread to cook for 10 minutes. Remove the bread from the oven, then let the bread cool about 1 ½ hours before cutting.



Notes:

1. White Bean Flour – You can purchase white bean flour from Barry Farm or you can grind your own using a coffee grinder. Make sure to sift your bean flour before using to make sure any bits that weren’t ground are removed

2. Chia Seed Meal – You can purchase chia seeds from Barry Farm and use a coffee grinder to turn them into meal.


Other Baking & Pastry Project Posts

Baking & Pastry Project #15 - Rustic Raisin Bread
Baking & Pastry Project Week 8 - Raisins & More Raisins
Baking & Pastry Project #14 - Cheddar & Onion Mock Rye Batard
Baking & Pastry Project #13 - Prosciutto & Provolone Bread
Baking & Pastry Project Week 7 - Ham & Cheese
Baking & Pastry Project #12 - Belgian Apple Cider Bread
Baking & Pastry Project #11 - Beer & Cheese Bread
Baking & Pastry Project Week 6 - Beer, Cheese & Cider


Want More?

You can find me on Twitter at glutenagogo.

June 1, 2009

Rustic Raisin Bread (B&P15)


Baking & Pastry Project #15 - Rustin Raisin Bread


We spent a busy weekend cleaning up after the carpenter and working on our yard. It was such a pleasure to see the changes in our kitchen. The carpenter takes care to vacuum while he works, but all the little bits of saw dust seems to float through the air and wedge into cracks around the kitchen. It's amazing how it travels, even though he's cutting all the wood outside.

It is taking him a while to trim all the entry ways, and each connection of the boards. You realize while he's working on the boards that there will be all these intersection points to work, but seeing him work all the angles and cuts is beauty and the mastery of wood with geometry. One area near our pantry looks almost like old English wood work.

I worked up some bread for our breakfasts for the weekend. Since we were trying to finish off some yard projects. I fixed us a breakfast of scrambled eggs with pancetta and a fresh fruit salad to go along with this bread. Afterwards, I headed out and finished off painting our patio furniture, a job that will hopefully last another 10 years.


Recipe

Yield: 1 loaf

Protein Content follows the flour in parenthesis

Original Protein Content: 22.88 g

GF Protein Content: 22.96 g

2 Tb/30 g brown rice flour (2.7 g)

1 3/4 Tb/25 g sweet rice flour (1.5 g)

1 3/8 Tb/20 g arrowroot starch (.06 g)

2 7/8 Tb/40 g almond meal (8 g)

1 7/8 Tb/26 g millet flour (2.99 g)

2 Tb/30 g white bean floour (6.45 g)

1 1/4 tsp/6 g chia seed meal (1.26 g)

3/8 tsp/2 g agar agar powder

2 3/8 tsp/12 g instant dry yeast

1 1/2 tsp/7 g sea salt

1 1/2 Tb/21 g cane sugar

6 1/2 Tb/92 g raisins

1/2 - 2/3 cup/125-135 ml whole milk, room temperature

1 tsp/5 g honey


1. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients, along with the raisins. Pour in the honey and milk then stir together. Lay out a sheet of parchment paper. Sprinkle the parchment paper with sweet rice flour and place the bread dough in the center of the paper. Shape into a round ball and score four slashes down the top of the dough. Cover and allow to rise for 1 ½ hours.


2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F/204 degrees C. If you have a baking stone, place it in the oven at the same time on a shelf in the top third of the oven. Gather an oven proof bowl that can hold water and a squirt bottle filled with water for steaming your bread. Place the water bowl on a shelf in the bottom third of the oven.


3. Remove the stone or brick from the oven and slide the parchment paper with the loaf onto the baking stone. Squirt the sides of the oven with water and the top of the bread. Then bake for 30 minutes. Prop open the door of the oven and allow the bread to cook for 10 minutes. Remove the bread from the oven, then let the bread cool about 1 ½ hours before cutting.




Notes:


1. White Bean Flour – You can purchase white bean flour from Barry Farm or you can grind your own using a coffee grinder. Make sure to sift your bean flour before using to make sure any bits that weren’t ground are removed


2. Chia Seed Meal – You can purchase chia seeds from Barry Farm and use a coffee grinder to turn them into meal.


Other Baking & Pastry Project Posts

Baking & Pastry Project #14 - Cheddar & Onion Mock Rye Batard
Baking & Pastry Project #13 - Prosciutto & Provolone Bread
Baking & Pastry Project Week 7 - Ham & Cheese
Baking & Pastry Project #12 - Belgian Apple Cider Bread
Baking & Pastry Project #11 - Beer & Cheese Bread
Baking & Pastry Project Week 6 - Beer, Cheese & Cider



Want More?


You can find me on Twitter at glutenagogo.