Yes, the Daring Bakers bake well and bake Bakewell Tarts!
Or in my case, Bakewell Tart Bites
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.
This tradicional UK tart has 3 components: a pastry crust, a layer of jam and frangipane (an almond cream). I’m crazy about anything with frangipane (I’m a nuts girl after all) so I love Bakewell Tarts! I used to do it a lot when I was working in a hotel in the UK to serve with the afternoon teas. I can not tell you how many scraps from the borders of the tarts ended up on my hips…
For this DB’s challenge I decided to transform the tart into chocolate covered bites, because everything is better with chocolate, right? My frangipane had hazelnuts besides almonds and as for the jam I’ve used an homemade raspberry curd.
Raspberry Curd
BAKEWELL TART BITES
Sweet Shortcrust Pastry
-
225g (8oz) all purpose flour
- 30g (1oz) sugar
- 2.5ml (½ tsp) salt
- 110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
- 2 egg yolks
- 2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract
- 15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) 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
Almond & Hazelnut Frangipane
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. 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.
An inside look
Raspberry curd
Cook all ingredients on a bain-marie until it thickens and boils for about 5 minutes. Let it cool.
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 acclimatized 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. 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. 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.
For the bites
Cut the cooled tart into squares and dip into semi-sweet chocolate. Decorate with slivered almonds or as you wish.
90 comments:
As Homer would say: "Choooocolaaate... biiiitessss...." (drooling)
Great twist!
Wow, what a great take on the original recipe! I love those bites! And that curd looks so delicious...
Cheers,
Rosa
Those look just lovely. How clever of you. So original
These are gorgeous! They remind me of petit four bites that would show up at every school reception, piano recital, graduation, etc. where I grew up (Memphis, Tennessee--very proper Southern culture).
However, I suspect that these are much more well-balanced and not overly sweet...I love the flavor combination! any chance you want to bring one over to my house??
They look really good. I have signed up for the Daring Bakers and can't wait to do my first challenge next month.
Yum, that looks good! the little bites are cute! Love the standing almond slivers.
I'm going to try making that raspberry curd, asap. Bet that tasty tummy on everything.
~ingrid
Eu AMO frangipane. Ainda mais com framboesas... e com chocolate... Ai, meu Deus!
wow, those look so delicious and so cute! thanks for the recipe. i'll have to try it.
WOWIE those look sooo good!! chocolate bites...dangerous!
I knew you would do something amazing!!!
Soooo easy to eat 20 of them at once.
Yum, this looks awesome! I love the little bakewell bites. :)
Oh yum! How do you do it? How do you manage to fit chocolate into every possible dish? ;) Want want want!
Yummm!! Its beautiful Rita!! I love the way make it different everytime!! :)
You and I must be on the same wavelength. Yes, everything is better with more chocolate! I also think making them bite-sized is inspirational! They look like amazing!
That looks wonderful Rita! Like blissful little cake pops or petit fours! :D
Oh I love those little bites! What a fantastic idea. And the raspberry curd?! I didn't know you could make curd out of anything but citrus (duh) I am so gonna try that curd.
Congrats, they are beauties!
~Blondie
Your blog is decadent!
Yuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmminess I just LOVE the tart pieces in chocolate and I love the pix your got on the food porn site. Very well done near perfect. Lovely pixs and a great job on this challenge.
Seriously, looking at the pictures, I really want to bite them! :D
LOVE how you cut the tart into bites and encased each one in chocolate, and LOVE the raspberry curd! Beautiful job as always, and boy would I love one of those right now!
Oh ye, anything is definitely better with chocolate!
These little bakewell petite fours look so good. And very different.
That's a great idea!! Looks so delicious in the form of chocolate bites...yum yum
Wow, I love that delicious... sure my family love it,I should do it...
A kiss
Aww... so cute, perfect shape for the perfect taste, raspberry curd warp in almond chocolate indulgence :)
Haha I would totally bite you... er that! I love the raspberry and almond base, it looks perfect :)
They should have awards for best consistent DBer, I would totally vote for you :)
Lovely bites,only you can think something this creative ,CC:)
AINS RITA....que hambre con verlos asi tipo individual bombon....despues del desastre que me ha salido a mi...los tuyos son probocadores
What a great idea with the chocolate! They look delicious! :)
Oh... my god. Those look unbelievably good.
What a clever take on the tart! Looks amazing!
Great blog!!!! I will be following along with you :)
These look fabulous! Yum! The idea to wrap them in chocolate and making them bitesize is great!
Ohh wow!! i just love the chocolate dipped bites!..and a good idea with the curd..
What scrumptious bites! I want to pop a half dozen right into my mouth!!
what a brilliant idea! Such a creative take on the challenge.
These remind me of chocolate covered baklava. Some may say you shouldn't mess with the traditional, but I think most things in life can be improved with a chocolate coating. Tax bills, for instance.
Well done, these look divine!
Oooh, I love the idea of Bakewell Bites and the idea of hazelnuts in the frangipane is such a good one!
What a clever idea! Your little bites look so beautiful! Chocolate DOES make everything better! Simply heavenly!
Oh, I like this idea!
What an original idea! I love what you did with this recipe. Those little bites are so tempting and your curd looks amazing!
Raspberry curd? Dipped in chocolate? Oh, I'm totally there. Great job!
WHOA big fan of this whole dipping them in chocolate! I am going to have to make this again JUST to do that. YUM! Lovely!
I was thinking this would be really god bit sized- but I didn't think about dipping it in chocolate! Great idea!
Your Bakewell bites are beautiful!
A fantastic challenge.
So cute!! Very clever.
The only thing that can make these better is adding chocolate and you did that! Great job on this month’s challenge.
These are gorgeous! Love the raspberry curd. Awesome!
making tart bites is a great idea!!! mouthwatering too!mmmmmmmm....
que idea mas fenomenal!
Rita, I love how you see things! It's always fresh and unusual!
Yum!! I love your bites =D. What a creative twist to the recipe!!
Brilliant idea!! Looks super delicious.
ok those look delicious! Nice work!
Great job on your challenge and you came up with a real twist this time.
INgenious idea! Very pretty and delicate... almost like petits fours!
The little bites are gorgeous! They would make a great gift.
These are fabulous! Great thinking! Wish I had one with my morning tea! :)
Your Bakewell bites look so delicious. But, also dangerous - I am sure I could eat about a dozen without thinking.
You did a GREAT job!
Bite me, they're delicious CC. Love the little squares & love the raspberry curd too. Genius ideas. Just gorgeous!
That is such a clever idea! Chocolate covered Bakewell tart. It's genius. Your treats look divine. I wish I had one right now!
Wow! What a fantastic job you did. How good do those treats look?!
Maaaaaaaaaaadre del amor hermoso. Mira que ya los habÃa visto en el foro de las DBrs pero aún asà me ha impactado. ¡¡¡ Qué pinta más buena !!! Con tu permiso, me apunto este formato, con avellanas, con chocolate, y ¡¡ con curd de fresas !! Estoy justamente a ver si me pongo a hacer algún curd, que no lo he intentado todavÃa, pero los que habÃa visto son siempre de limón o naranja, éste me gusta mucho más.
De verdad que me ha encantado este reto, me habrÃa pasado todo el mes haciendo tartitas de estas si hubiese tenido aún más tiempo.
Voy a regodearme otro poquito con tus fotos, a ver si termino de deshidratarme.
how cute and innovative - almost like pralines - just lovely!
You're right! Everything IS better with chocolate!! And the bites look like little petit fours! Very cute and different!!
bite size tarts.. how ingenious of you. Great job on the challenge.
Those are gorgeous! What a really good idea...
Um, can I just say, you are a freaking genius! I love this idea! They are just so cute and you added chocolate!!
Me encantaron tus "bites" y con el chocolate, mmmm
soo cute! what a creative idea!
Lovely, and so yummy looking!
I want some! They look amazing!
Wow, your tart bites are just so cute...love the idea of bite size...and the raspberry curd looks so yummie in it! Great pictures as well.
How creative, turning them into little bonbons--well done!
j
I love, love, love, love the bakewell bites. Brilliant! (I wish I'd thought of it . . .) Beautiful pics, too. And I love the raspberry curd idea. This is something I would totally try.
Looks delicious! I think chocolate makes just about everything better--wish I'd thought of dipping my tart in chocolate. :) Love the hazelnut addition, too.
Oh what a great idea to make these into individual bites! Plus, it's more surface area for chocolate, right?!
Lovely!!!!!!!!
Hablas Espannol? Me parecio ver un comentario tuyo en Espannol!
The tart bites are a great idea and they look really good!
I love that you were so creative and used chocolate! Your tart bites look delicious and I'm going to have to try that next time! :)
I love the idea of including hazelnuts in the frangipane, I bet that was delicious. These are so cute it hurts!
I'm biting!
Que lindo!!! Fiquei com água na boca, nunca experimentei Frangipane...aqui as amêndoas ainda são muito caras e pasta de amêndoas só em Deli...
Parabéns, ficou uma obra de arte!
Um beijo!
That is soooo fabulous! What a delicious idea! And they look so beautiful!
I love your take on the tart! Great little bites, just perfect!
Wait.. you didn't post for 2 weeks? I can't believe it.
Where are you? :)
I've never had a bakewell tart. This must be remedied.
I think I could eat a whole plateful of your version. Bluejean hit it on thehead - they're like very special petifours. Chocolate does indeed make everything better and of course the addition of hazelnuts will always make me happy.
Your frangipane cubes look to die for. They just need a little silver or gold leaf decoration and they'd look straight out from a confiserie store from Paris. Delicious!
Oh, this is a perfect little bite when you've eaten too much at dinner, and just want a tiny piece of something sweet!
You have an adorable blog...
love your ending.. bite me, lol!
That looks amazing! Covering it in chocolate was a brilliant idea. I definitely want to try that sometime.
I really enjoy reading your blog, this gives me rare and exciting ideas for Christmas! Yes, by the way, why not feature a Christmas series - this is surely wonderful. Thanks.
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