The Bakewell pudding and tart derives its name from the town of Bakewell in Derbyshire, England.
Bakewell pudding is a jam pastry with an egg and ground almond enriched filling. It is not to be confused with Bakewell Tart which is has a short crust pastry base, and an almond topping and a sponge and jam filling. As with most dishes, I’ve adapted the recipe to suite my family’s needs. It follows:
Base - Short crust pastry
4 oz. all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
2 oz. Crisco
Method:
Place all ingredients in a bowl; mix with a fork and add enough cold water to make pliable dough
Filling
2 oz. butter
2 oz. sugar
2 oz. ground rice
1 oz. ground almonds
1 egg
2 tablespoons Jam
Few drops of Almond Essence
Slivered Almonds for decoration
Method:
Roll out pastry and line a pie plate. Spread the jam over the bottom of the pastry. Cream the butter and sugar together. Mix the rice and ground almonds and add to the creamed mixture alternately with the beaten egg. Spread the mixture over the jam base, and decorate with a latticework of pastry strips. Top with slivered almonds and bake in a hot oven 350 – 375 degrees F for about 40 minutes until golden brown.
Or – Do not put a latticework of pastry/slivered almonds on the top, but after cooking and cooling, drizzle with confectioner’s sugar mixed with a little milk. Decorate with cherries.
