Iced Bakewell Slices

I think it’s fair to say that Bakewell Tart is one of our family’s favourite treats. It’s the one thing that is always requested at family gatherings and is always the first to go! So, when I found some pastry that needed to be used up in the fridge and Duerr’s kindly sent me a selection of jams to try, I just knew what I had to make!

You could make this as a round tart but, for a bit of a change, I decided to bake this in a square tin and cut it into slices. This made 12 very generous slices – it would happily have cut into 16 smaller squares.

Ingredients

1 pack ready rolled shortcrust pastry

250g unsalted butter, softened

250g caster sugar

2 tsp almond extract

4 eggs

125g ground almonds

125g self raising flour

4-5 tbsp jam (I used Duerr’s seedless raspberry)

300g icing sugar

Water

Handful flaked almonds

What to do

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C.

2. Line the bottom of a 9″ square non-stick baking tin with the pastry sheet, cutting off any excess (you can re-roll this and use it to make jam tarts). Cover the pastry with a sheet of greaseproof paper then tip in some baking beans (rice, pasta or dried lentils will work well too) to weigh down the pastry.

3. Blind bake for 20 mins then remove the baking beans and greaseproof and bake, uncovered, for a further 4-5 mins. This will hopefully prevent a soggy bottom!

4. Turn the oven down to 160°C.

5. Spread the jam over the pastry base.

6. Cream together the butter and caster sugar until it is well combined and pale, then beat in the almond extract.

7. Mix in the eggs, ground almonds and self raising flour. I use a food mixer but you could do it by hand.

8. Pour the cake mix over the pastry and jam, then bake in the centre of the oven for around 45 minutes. It’s tricky to give accurate timings as oven temperatures vary so wildly, but keep an eye on it and test to see if a skewer comes out clean to tell if it is cooked through.

9. Leave to cool then remove from the tin.

10. Sift the icing sugar into a bowl and add enough water to make it into a stiff paste – you don’t want it to run off the sides!

11. Spread the icing over the cake, sprinkle with flaked almonds then leave to set.

12. Finally cut the Bakewell into slices and enjoy!

It will keep well for a few days in a cake tin – if it lasts that long!

Thanks to Duerr’s for sending me some jams to bake with. We especially love the lids, which make opening the jars so easy with very little effort – great design!