Bakewell tart is such a British classic, and Mary Berry’s got the best recipe, but I’ve made a few changes for those of us in the US. Thanks to a friend’s suggestion, I’ve also discovered that using up leftover mincemeat instead of jam, makes a fabulous treat!
For those of you in the UK, Mary Berry is a household name, but this is not the case in the US.
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EDIT: This post was written before the Great British Bakeoff made it BIG in the USA!
Click to buy Mary Berry’s cookbook.
If you live outside the UK, you may not know who Mary Berry is. She is an extremely accomplished baker, cookbook author, and celebrity in the UK, as she is a judge in a highly popular TV show called The Great British Bakeoff, and she just happens to have been born exactly one year, to the day, before my Dad! You needed that piece of information, right?
Updated: I met Mary Berry and “hung out” with her, Paul Hollywood and James Martin in the VIP room at the BBC Good Food Show Scotland! I even rode in the same taxi with them when we went out for dinner!
I love Mary’s English style and classic British recipes, like her Bakewell tart. Most of you in the US have probably never even heard of a Bakewell tart, let alone have tried one, so this is the recipe I decided to share with you.
Bakewell tart begins with a homemade crust which is partially baked, then the bottom is covered in jam (please see below for a very delicious alternative filling to use up your Christmas mincemeat).
Bakewell tart is very simple almond flavored, cake-like filled (frangipane) tart, which is topped with sliced almonds and drizzled with icing. Mary Berry’s Bakewell tart recipe is fantastic. When the tart has cooled, it’s drizzled with a plain sugar icing. Need I say more?
Mary Berry’s Bakewell Tart Recipe
adapted for US kitchens (and to my taste) and to make a larger, 9″ tart serves 10
FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW
Tart Shell
- flour
- salt
- butter
- sugar
Filling
- jam or mincemeat
- butter
- sugar
- ground almonds
- eggs
- almond extract (optional)
Topping
- flaked almonds
- confectioner’s sugar
- water or milk
Special equipment: tart dish (I like this one as it’s made in France, but I have a less expensive option in above)
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6 (180C fan).
Making the pastry
Place the flour and salt into a bowl and rub in the butter with your fingers until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs.
Add the sugar, then add the water and mix gently to make a soft dough. (Or you can make it in a food processor, like this.)
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface, then line a 9″in tart tin. Using a fork, press the tines into the bottom and sides of the pastry in the tin.
Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes, until cooked, but not completely (it’s going back in the oven.) Remove and set aside.
Spread the jam or mincemeat on the bottom of the crust then make the frangipane filling.
Making the filling and baking the Bakewell tart
Melt the butter in a pot, remove from heat and stir in the sugar, ground almonds, egg and almond extract (if using.) Pour the mixture over the jam or mincemeat and sprinkle the flaked almonds on top.
Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F(180°C) and bake for about 30 minutes, until golden-brown and a skewer pushed into the middle comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely in the pan. Drizzle with icing and allow to set.
Finally, cut the Bakewell tart into slices and enjoy! If you enjoy Mary Berry’s Bakewell tart recipe in it’s original form, then give my mincemeat version a try, too!
Mincemeat Bakewell Tart
Here is a photo of the mincemeat Bakewell Tart. The homemade mincemeat combined with the other flavors works really well, and it was perfect in January to use up some leftover mincemeat from the holidays.
In the meantime, I am flying to Scotland today, so I hope you’ll understand I won’t be posting much here on my site whilst traveling, but I’ll be much more active on Facebook, and Instagram.
I hope you will follow me home to Scotland–first on the agenda is the Scottish Baking Awards at Mar Hall this Sunday! I cannot wait!
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Mary Berry's Bakewell Tart
A classic British tart which has a jam base, cake like frangipane filling and almonds and icing on top. Delicious!
Ingredients
Tart Shell
- 2 cups (9 oz) all purpose flour
- (pinch of salt -my addition)
- one stick (4 oz) good quality butter (I use Kerrygold)
- (1 1/2 tsp sugar -my addition)
- 4 to 5 tbsp ice-cold water
Filling
- 3 to 4 tbsp raspberry jam, or any other flavor (you can also use mincemeat for a delicious twist)
- 1 1/2 stick (6 oz) butter
- 3/4 cup (6 oz) sugar
- 3/4 cup (6 oz) ground almonds
- 2 eggs (preferably organic), beaten
- 1/2 tsp. almond extract (I omitted this as it's not my favorite flavor)
- 1/2 cup (3 oz) flaked almonds
Icing
- 2/3 cup (3 oz) confectioner's sugar
- 2 to 3 tablespoons water or milk
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F
PASTRY-
- Place the flour and salt into a bowl and rub in the butter with your fingers until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. Add the sugar, then the water and mix gently to make a soft dough. (Or you can make it in a food processor, like this.)
- Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface, then line a 9"in tart tin. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Using a fork, press the tines into the bottom and sides of the pastry in the tin, then bake for about 15 to 20 minutes, until cooked, but not completely (it's going back in the oven.) Remove and set aside.
FILLING
- Spread the jam or mincemeat on the bottom of the crust then make the frangipane filling.
- Melt the butter in a pot, remove from heat and stir in the sugar, ground almonds, egg and almond extract (if using.) Pour the mixture over the jam or mincemeat and sprinkle the flaked almonds on top.
- Bake for about 35 minutes. If the almonds begin to brown too quickly, cover the tart loosely with aluminum foil.
ICING
- Place the confectioner's sugar into a bowl. Stir in cold water or milk. Using a knife or spoon (any kitchen cutlery would probably work), drizzle the icing all over the cooled tart (make sure it isn't warm or the icing will not look as pretty as it should.) Allow the icing to set before serving.
- Cut into slices and enjoy!
Notes
Leave off the icing if you prefer a less sweet tart (my mum prefers it this way).
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 197Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 42mgSodium: 46mgCarbohydrates: 37gFiber: 1gSugar: 13gProtein: 5g
Nutrition information is only estimated.
Well those are surprisingly simple answers for something that didn’t feel so simple. I am so glad you got back to me so quickly! I might still be able to pull it off today :)
Thanks again!!
No problem, Christy! You could even make the crust today and do the rest tomorrow. I love doing it that way as it seems so easy the next day! Haha! ;) Let me know how it turns out. CC
Hi there!
I’m new to baking tarts, so please forgive me if these questions are absolutely absurd – but I was reading the recipe and bought all ingredients so I could make this fine looking pastry, and low and behold looked at the actual recipe and figured out I had questions. (Yeesh).
First question – can I just use a pie dish or a spring Form pan, or is a tart dish something completely different?
Second question – what the heck is she talking about a pasty case and baking beans? I feel like I might be in a completely different universe when looking at this recipe…
Last question – since you increased the ingredients, do you recall how long your tart took to bake?
I’m sorry for all the questions, I love baking and didn’t think this recipe was going to be any different than making a cake or pie – but I think I’m a bit out of my element.
Hi Christy, yes, you can use a pie dish if you don’t have a tart dish (the tart dish has straight sides, versus sloped as in a pie dish). You can avoid using the baking beans (when baking a crust on its own, it can bubble up so the beans keep it from doing so), however, I just prick the base of the pastry and bake it and that does the job, too. No need to change the baking time, or if you like, you can add 5 minutes or so, but each oven is quite different anyway. Hope this answers all of your questions and I think you’ll find it’s not as complicated of a recipe as you might think, but let me know how it goes. :) Good luck! CC
Dear Christina, what a beautiful tart! It sounds magnificent. I look forward to highlights of the Glasgow food festival. What a wonderful time you will have! xo, Catherine
Oh, this is an older post, Catherine. I’ve gone and come back! It was fab!!! CC
My goodness – I have always wanted to go to Scotland (as I am Irish and Scottish) so I’m going to check out all your posts! Love Ireland – and have posted a ton of photos from our trip. Love your blog – so happy to have found it!
Thank you, thank you! I’m also so happy you found my blog, Tricia! Lots of Scottish and some Irish recipes here! Enjoy! CC
[…] I was at the BBC Good Food Show in Scotland, I was very fortunate to meet not only Mary Berry, but also Paul Hollywood (yes, that’s really his name), the co-host of the Great British […]
Great to meet you on Friday and love your mix of cooking from traditional to modern :) xxx
Thank you, Emma! Great to meet you too! CC
Thats look really great. Thanks for this wonderful post.
You are very welcome, I hope you like it! :)
Apple pie, ultimate comfort food.