Cherry Bakewell
Small shortcrust tarts with cherry jam and almond sponge, topped with white icing and a glace cherry.
Photograph credit: BakewellCake (cropped) by Whitepaw at English Wikipedia · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Is a Cherry Bakewell a tart or a cake? It is both, which is why people who cannot decide between the two end up buying a box. The pastry holds a layer of jam, a puffed almond sponge and a thin white lid of icing.
Roll the pastry thin, about 3 mm, and cut rounds that fit the holes of a 12-hole tin. Press them in without stretching. Put only half a teaspoon of jam in each case. Jam boils and rises through the sponge if there is too much, and the tarts look messy.
The filling is a frangipane: butter, sugar, eggs, ground almonds and a little flour, beaten into a smooth paste. Spoon it over the jam so that it nearly fills each case. It puffs as it bakes and settles as it cools.
Bake at 190°C / 375°F for 25 minutes. If your oven runs hot, check at 20 minutes. Cool completely, spread with icing made from icing sugar and water, and top each with half a glace cherry.
Quick Answers
How long does Cherry Bakewell take to make?
40 minutes of preparation and 25 minutes of cooking, so at least 1 hour 5 minutes. The method also needs time for cooling completely, which it does not time, so treat that as a minimum. The recipe serves 12.
How to Make Cherry Bakewell
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Heat the oven to 190°C / 375°F and grease a 12-hole tart tin. Roll the pastry to 3 mm, cut 12 rounds and press into the tin.
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Put half a teaspoon of cherry jam in each case.
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Beat the butter and caster sugar for 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs, then fold in the ground almonds and flour. Spoon over the jam.
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Bake for 25 minutes until golden. Cool completely.
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Stir the icing sugar with the water, spread over the tarts and top each with half a cherry.
Worth Getting Right
- Use only a little jam.
- Roll the pastry thin.
- If your oven runs hot, check at 20 minutes.
- Ice only when cold.
Serve It With
Hot tea · Strong coffee · Custard · Cold milk
Storage
Keeps in an airtight tin for 4 days.
Cherry Bakewell Nutrition
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked.
First published ; last changed .
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