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Lemon Bakewell Tart | Patisserie Makes Perfect

Lemon Bakewell Tart

Patisserie Makes Perfect
This is a recipe for a lemon bakewell tart, traditionally this is made with raspberry jam, but the zing of lemon curd really works. Also I've added icing to the top, some recipes just have a sprinkling of flaked almonds, but I really like the icing on top.
5 from 6 votes
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 50 minutes
Cuisine English
Servings 8 -10

Ingredients
  

  • ***Pate Sucree***
  • 125 g Unsalted Butter room temperature
  • 100 g Icing Sugar sifted
  • 50 g Egg any extra reserved for egg wash
  • 250 g Plain Flour sifted
  • 1 g Salt
  • ***Frangipane***
  • 150 g Unsalted Butter softened
  • 150 g Granulated Sugar
  • 2 Eggs
  • 150 g Ground Almonds
  • 30 g Plain flour
  • 1 Lemon juiced
  • ***Lemon Curd***
  • 2 Unwaxed Lemons
  • 100 g Granulated Sugar
  • 50 g Unsalted butter cut into cubes
  • 2 free-range eggs
  • ***Icing***
  • 300 g Icing Sugar
  • 2-3 Tbsp Water
  • 50 g Icing Sugar
  • Yellow Food Colouring
  • 1/2 Lemon juiced

Instructions
 

  • Begin by making the lemon curd, put the lemon juice, sugar and butter into a heatproof bowl. Sit the bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, making sure the water is not touching the bottom of the bowl. Stir the mixture every now and again until all of the butter has melted.
  • Lightly whisk the eggs and stir them into the lemon mixture. Stir until all of the ingredients are well combined, then leave to cook for 10-13 minutes, stirring every now and again, until the mixture is creamy and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
  • Remove the lemon curd from the heat and place into a bowl to cool, cover the surface of the curd with cling-film and place in the fridge until ready to use.
  • To make the pastry, place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until soft and smooth, add the icing sugar and cream the ingredients together until light and smooth.
  • Gradually mix in the egg making sure they become fully incorporated, add in the flour and salt and mix till it becomes one big mass.
  • Turn the pastry out on to a work surface, mix it all together and then shape it into a round block, cover with cling-film and refrigerate the pastry for 30 minutes to an hour.
  • Roll out the chilled pastry on a lightly floured work surface and line a round tart tin that is 25-27cm in diameter, about 3cm deep. Spread the lemon curd in an even layer on the base of pastry and chill while you make the frangipane.
  • Make the frangipane, cream the butter and sugar together, then gradually add the beaten eggs.
  • Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, add the ground almonds, flour and lemon juice.
  • Mix for a few seconds until well incorporated. Take the chilled pastry case from the fridge spread the frangipane evenly over the curd using a bent palette knife. Brush the sides and tops of the pastry that are exposed with egg wash.
  • Preheat the oven to 190C/170C Fan/gas 5. Place the tart on a tray and bake for about 50–55 minutes until the almond filling and pastry are golden brown. Leave the tart to cool in the tin.
  • When the tart is cool, remove it from the tin, tidy any edges if necessary and then make the icing.
  • Sift the 300g icing sugar into a bowl and add about 3-4 tablespoons cold water to make a smooth, fairly thick icing.
  • Sift the other 50g of icing sugar in a separate bowl and add the lemon juice in batches, you might not need all of the lemon juice. Add the yellow food colouring until you get your chosen colour.
  • Spoon the yellow icing into a small piping bag fitted with a small plain nozzle.
  • When the tart has cooled completely, spoon the white icing on top and spread to form a smooth surface. Pipe parallel lines or a spiral of yellow icing over the white icing, then drag a cocktail stick through the lines to create a feathered effect.
  • Leave to set before serving.

Notes

***This recipe does not blind bake the pastry, normally you would, but I have tried this without blind baking which is so much easier and helps with shrinkage as well. Just make sure you leave the tart in the tin to cool, so the residual heat will finish to cook the base of the tart.
***You can use any flavour curd you like, if you don't go with lemon, leave it out of the frangipane and the icing as well.