So, to commemorate this special occasion, I decided to make a cake version of my Dad's favourite pastry: Bakewell tart! I've only had one brush with the iconic English delight on this blog in the past, and it was just a fairly straightforward traybake re-imagining to save some time on making individual pastry cases.
This cake pays homage to the delicious shortbread pastry case by encircling the whole perimeter with shortbread biscuits. The cake itself is made from two thick layers of buttery almond sponge, inspired by the dense, moist frangipane sponge usually found in a Bakewell tart. And you can't make this kind of cake without sweet fondant-style icing and glacé cherries!
Please set aside a good 5 hours to make this: it's not technically complicated, but it's time consuming. In fact, this tastes much better the day after it's made, not on the day.
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DIFFICULTY
Simple sponge cake and shortbread making, and layer cake constructing
TIME
About 5 hours
RECIPE RATING
Experienced: time consuming
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INGREDIMENTS
Makes one deep 8 inch (20 centimetre) round cake
9 ounces (250 grammes) caster sugar
6 ounces (170 grammes) unsalted butter, or baking margarine, at room temperature
3 medium (US Large) eggs, at room temperature
1 to 2 teaspoons (5 to 10 millilitres) almond essence, to taste
1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) vanilla essence
4 fluid ounces (115 millilitres) whole milk, or milk alternative
Pinch of salt
4½ ounces (130 grammes) white spelt flour
4½ ounces (130 grammes) ground almonds
2½ teaspoons (12 millilitres) baking powder
Jam Filling
4 fluid ounces (115 millilitres) seedless raspberry jam
2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) cornflour
1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) lemon juice
Shortbread Biscuits
3½ ounces (100 grammes) white spelt flour
1 ounces (30 grammes) cornflour
3 ounces (85 grammes) salted butter, or baking margarine
1½ ounces (40 grammes) sugar
To decorate
8 ounces (225 grammes) icing sugar
1 ounce (30 grammes) butter, melted, or coconut oil, or baking margarine
Hot water, to mix
7 glacé cherries, cut in half
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FREE FROM
Wheat, yeast
CONTAINS
Spelt, eggs, dairy (dairy free option in italics), refined sugar, nuts
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METHOD
First, make the biscuits to decorate the outside
- In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and icing sugar together until smooth. Sieve in the spelt flour and cornflour, and rub into the mixture with your fingers until you have a soft dough. Wrap in cling film, flatten into a disc, and chill for about an hour.
- If you like, while the dough is chilling, you can prepare the cake.
- Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F, Gas Mk.2), and line one or two flat sheets with a piece of non-stick baking paper.
- Dust the work surface with cornflour and roll out to about a quarter inch (5 millimetres) thick. Cut into rectangles measuring 1 by 2½ inches (2½ by 6½ centimetres) with a straight blade or a fluted pastry wheel. You can re-roll the dough twice to cut more biscuits, and you should have about 20 biscuits.
- Lie the biscuits on the baking tray, about half an inch (1 centimetre) apart, and bake in the centre of the preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the edges are gently browned.
- After cooking, transfer the biscuits to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the cake
- Sieve together the flour, almonds, salt, and baking powder onto a sheet of baking paper, and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together very well, until light and creamy. Using an electric mixer, this will take about 3 minutes.
- Beat the eggs in one by one, making sure to beat in each egg completely before adding the next. If you have a food processor, the eggs, sugar, and butter and be blitzed all at once for a couple of minutes.
- Beat in the essences, adding the almond essence to taste. Fold in half the flour mixture, followed by the milk, and finishing with the last half of the flour mixture.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, and bake on the centre shelf of the preheated oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour. If the top is browning too quickly, but the cake isn't done through the middle, cover with a tin foil tent.
- Once cooked, remove from the oven, loosen the sides, and allow to cool completely in the tin on a wire rack.
While the cake cools, prepare the jam
- Place the jam in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until it melts and begins to simmer. Mix the cornflour, lemon juice, and a few teaspoons of water together in a cup to make a slurry.
- Beat in the slurry and continue to cook for a minute or two, until the mixture thickens. Allow to cool completely before using to fill the cake.
Assemble the masterpiece!
- If the cake has a dome, cut it off. Cut the cake in half into two equal layers. Place the top half of the cake upside down on the serving plate, cover with the jam, spreading out to half an inch (1 centimetre) from the edge. Sandwich with the bottom half of the cake, upside down. Now, the flat bottom crust of the cake is the top.
- Make a thick but running icing with the icing sugar, melted butter, and enough hot water to get the right consistency.
- Cover the top and sides with a very thin layer of glace icing. Use a little bit of icing on the back of each biscuit and attach to the side of the cake to make a crust.
- If the icing has set too much, add a few drops of water and heat for a few seconds in the microwave to retrieve the flowing consistency. Pour onto the top of the cake to make a thick icing layer; the biscuits make a damn to hold in the icing.
- Decorate the top with halved glacé cherries, as you like. This cake is best made the day before serving, but if you don't have that amount of time, allow the whole confection to set for about 2 hours before serving.
STORAGE
Best eaten the day after it's made, but keeps in an airtight container for up to 10 days at room temperature.
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