Bakewell Pudding

With the London Olympics going on, I knew I wanted to make some kind of English dish. I thought about doing some kind of main course like Bangers and Mash (sausage and potatoes), but decided to make a dessert instead. I did some searching and found a dessert called Bakewell Pudding that I thought looked pretty good and it had an interesting story. I read that the first Bakewell Pudding was made accidentally in the 1860's by a kitchen assistant at what was once called the White Horse Inn in Bakewell, Derbyshire (forgive me if this isn't 100% correct...I just read a bunch of articles online about it). Apparently, the original recipe has been kept a secret but and there are many cake and tart shops in Derbyshire featuring some version of this dessert. Some articles also referred to it as Bakewell Tart.  I would love to visit one of those shops in person one day! 

Most recipes I found said to serve the Bakewell Pudding/Tart with clotted cream.The name sounds kinda gross to me, but it's really just unpasteurized high-fat cream that is heated until it comes to a thick consistency. Most American grocery stores sell the ultra-pasteurized stuff which won't work the same. I just made regular whipped cream since I didn't really have the time or money to search for the right stuff.

As a side note, it was kinda interesting trying to figure out the measurements in some of the recipes since the English use different measurement terms and use Celcius for temperature. Luckily, the recipe I used broke it down for me. *Note: I followed the recipe exactly and do not claim it as my own.

And I hope you've been watching the Olympics this year! It's been great to see amazing athletes from all over the world. It's inspiring to see what some of them have gone through to get where they are and how they inspire younger generations to reach their goals. Go USA!

Ingredients

7 1/2 oz frozen puff pastry, thawed (a little less then one sheet. you can also use a kitchen scale to meaure..try to find one without hydrogenated oil if you can or make your own)

4 tbsp red jam (I used raspberry)
4 oz ground almonds
4 oz caster sugar (aka superfine sugar. I just processed my organic sugar in the food processor for about 20 secs)
2 oz butter (this recipe didn't say if it was supposed to be melted or not, but others I looked at did. So I melted it).
3 eggs, beaten
1.4 tsp almond essence ( I only had almond extract so hopefully it's close to the same thing)

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 400. 

2.Roll out the pastry on a floured surface and use to line a 9 inch pie dish.

3. Press into pan and make sure to build up on the sides.
4. Mark the rim with the prongs of a fork. Brush the jam over the base.

Chill in the refrigerator while making the filling.
5. Beat the almonds with the sugar, butter, eggs and almond extract.

6. Pour the filling over the jam and spread it evenly.

7. Bake for 30 minutes or until the filling is set.
8. Serve warm or cold, with fresh cream or custard.



Recipe source: Allbritishfood.com
History of Bakewell Pudding sources:
http://bakewellonline.co.uk/documents/the_history_of_the_bakewell_pudding/
http://www.greenchronicle.com/regional_recipes/bakewell_pudding_history.htm