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October 3, 2011

An alternative to mince pies: Father Christmas’ Bakewell tart

Christmas, Tarts and Pies 49 Replies

I was a late developer on a few fronts. I didn’t kiss a boy until about a year after all my friends. I was terrified of kissing boys. It didn’t matter how many times I practised on my hand or on my Jason Donavon poster, I still didn’t feel properly prepared.

I also believed in the Tooth Fairy (note the capitals please; it’s a mark of respect) until 1988. Which is late compared to my more savvy classmates. As for Father Christmas, well, I think I was 9 when the dreadful news was delivered by my twin buddies. They had an older brother who knew about these things. It was a sad day.

When will I stop being a late developer? I think it’s a perpetual state. As soon as I catch up on one front, another area lets me down. For example, recently I stayed in a hotel with Mr B and found myself, on the morning of check out, stuffing the free biscuits and soap into our suitcase. I actually hid them under some clothes in case I might fall as I left the hotel and expose my booty. We don’t need free biscuits. We especially don’t need free soap as we already have a huge basket of hotel soaps at home. I think I’m stuck in my student years where I used to rejoice in freebies.

This tart is an alternative Christmassy pudding you could serve to guests hot or cold. It’s very filling according to Mr B so he suggests you slice it very thinly. This tart is also a fine alternative offering to Father Christmas if you feel he might be a bit, well, bored of mince pies this year.

This is an enhanced and slightly messed about with version of my regular Bakewell. And I know it’s not really a Bakewell, you can call it a frangipane tart instead if the inproper use of Bakewell offends.

Makes 1 x 20ish cm tart with maybe some pastry scraps to bake separately and munch on.

For the pastry:

  • 250g plain flour
  • 50g icing sugar
  • 125g cold butter cut into cubes
  • 1 large egg

For the frangipane topping:

  • 150g soft butter
  • 150g caster sugar
  • 150g ground almonds
  • 3 eggs + 1 egg yolk
  • 320g mince meat, that’s just shy of a regular jar – add the rest to ice-cream
  • Icing sugar – about 200g
  • The juice of one fresh lemon
  • The zest of one tangerine

First make the pastry. Whizz the flour and icing sugar in a food processor (this is my method of sieving) then add the cubes of cold butter and pulse until you have a fine breadcrumb appearance. I always open up the top of the food processor and have a dig about with a knife to make sure there are no lumps of fat hiding near the blade. Then tip the lot into a large bowl and the egg. No need to whisk the egg first.

Take a normal table knife and use to stir the pastry mix until it forms large blobby crumbs. Then use your hand to pull the mixture together. Don’t add water or milk or anything. As long as you’ve used a large egg there’s enough liquid to pull the pastry together. Don’t overwork the pastry – by this I mean don’t madly knead the pastry – just pull it together with your hands until you have a yellow mass, all the same colour and with no bits of flour etc hanging about.) Put the pastry into a plastic bag, wrap tightly and then put in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes – but I often leave it overnight. Lazy old pastry liking a rest and all that.

When you’re ready to bake the tart, roll the pastry out onto a floured work surface (this pastry is pretty well behaved and only needs a little flour for rolling) – I would roll to about 3mm thick as I like a good crust but roll as thick as you like. I can’t bear pastry thickness snobbery. Take your 20ish cm tart tin (mine is loose bottomed for easy removal later) and slip it under the pastry by pulling the pastry up from the work surface.  (Of course feel free to transfer the pastry to your tin whichever way you prefer but this is mine.) Push the pastry into the edges of the tin and into the sides then run a rolling pin over the top of the tin. A very quick and easy way to trim the pastry. Pop the tin into the freezer for 15 minutes, preheat the oven to Gas 4, with one shelf in the middle of the oven and make the frangipane whilst you’re waiting.

Take the soft butter and sugar and cream together using a handheld electric mixer/a wooden spoon/a freestanding mixer until lighter in colour than when you started and fluffy. Then take your eggs (and extra yolk) and whisk with a fork – then dribble into the creamed mixture a teaspoon at a time and beat after each addition. I use a freestanding mixer to make my frangipane as it’s so so much easier. Once all the egg has been incorporated then turn the mixer off and add the ground almonds. Then mix the lot with a metal spoon. You don’t need to be gentle but don’t beat the hell out of it either.

Take the pastry out of the freezer and spread a layer of mincemeat on the bottom of the pastry – about 5mm thick. Mine was hard to spread so I gave it a quick blast in the microwave to loosen it a little. Then spoon the frangipane over the top being sure to cover the mincemeat and reach the sides of the tart. If you are using a smaller tart tin you ‘ll find you have too much frangipane – don’t fill the tart all the way to the top of the pastry sides or it’ll spill out over the top during baking. This does not affect the taste in any way of course.

Pop in the oven on the middle shelf (not on a baking sheet please) and bake for 40ish minutes. You’re looking for a golden brown top and pastry that’s neither yellow looking nor dark brown. Watch it like a hawk for the last ten minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

To decorate, just take the lemon juice and add icing sugar until you have a good, thick consistency then grate tangerine zest into it. Stir well and ice your tart when it’s completely cool. (If you are impatient like me and ice when still warm be sure to put straight in the freezer or all the icing will run off the sides.)

A freezer bag is perfect for drizzling icing without getting an icing bag out. Place the bag over a pint glass with one corner pointing down, spoon the icing into it, squeeze into the corner, remove from glass and then snip a tiny bit of said corner off and away you go. Just make sure you snip near the tart to avoid decorating your work top.

I added white chocolate stars to my Bakewell too, because I thought Father Christmas would appreciate this extra festive gesture.

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49 comments

  2. I made this, it came out really well and resulted in lots of ooohs and aaahs, a request for the recipe and ‘Did you really make this pastry?’. I ended up having to use a 23cm dish and it was filled to the top and I used an entire 410g jar of mince meat. Definitely recommend this recipe. Thanks Holly! Look forward to following your blog. :)

    • Thanks Oliver! I made a batch yesterday with the kids that were more pastry than mincemeat but we still enjoyed them a lot! Great idea to make a large mince pie. Good pudding idea for Christmas Day. x

  3. I know its not Christmas yet, but I am going to have a go at this recipe sounds really nice. Had to laugh at your blog it could have been me writing that Holly (being told there was no Father Christmas my older brother told me and took me to show me where my parents had hidden the presents) I also was about 9.
    Love reading and trying out your recipes Holly Thank You :) x

    • Thanks Veronica for your lovely comment! The recipe works quite nicely though I now wonder whether clementine in the icing was a step too far? I was very into Christmas when I wrote this post! My sons still believe in FC and long may it remain that way. Trying to keep them away from older relatives!! x

  4. Hi Holly,
    I hope Father Christmas enjoyed this year’s offering! I made up this recipe as individual pies and it has gone down a bomb with all the family – even the MIL!!! A delicious and light alternaive to ‘normal’ mince pies and from one batch of pastry I had enough for 36 pies!! For individual pies just reduce the cooking time to 20min.
    Thanks so much
    Claire xx

  5. Lovely idea and I found your tips really useful. If I do it again I’d probably go light on the icing – nice as it was, I found that  along with the strong flavour of the mincemeat, the frangipane flavour got lost in the middle. A few drizzles maybe rather than an all over blanket.

  6. Hi Holly, Love this your Father Christmas pudding… I did something similar last year (calling it Cheltenham tart) but without the icing (which will definitely appear this year).  So fun reading your blog … hope the birthday cake went well.  Off to face half term with 3 smalls … thinking of getting them to make Christmas cakes for their teachers as a present…am I mad?

    Fiona

  7. Hi Holly, just found your blog after watching this year’s GBBO and rooting for you to win all the way through the series, as did my Mum. In fact, I’m pretty sure that ‘How Did Holly Not Win The Great British Bake Off?’ may well be discussed in years to come along with ‘Did The Ball Cross The Line In The 1966 World Cup?’ and ‘Who Was On The Grassy Knoll?’…it was great to see a contestant who was seeking perfection & not afraid to show it. Pleased to see you are as expressive & entertaining in written form as you were on camera too, I shall be a regular reader from now on :-) Mum often bakes by feel and without measuring or weighing anything yet the results are staggeringly good so I need help to catch her up!

    Jeremy.

    • Jeremy – your comment just made me and my husband laugh out loud. Very funny indeed. I think the best woman won though to be honest. Hope you enjoy reading the blog as much as I enjoy committing my ramblings to ‘paper’. xx

  10. Believe it or not, I’ve just “discovered” a TV program called The Great British Bake Off last week. My 5 year old (who’s mad for Jamie Oliver. She says his name with great reverence) and I have doing a catch up game by watching all the episodes on BBC iPlayer. We were rooting for you to win and secretly cried when you didn’t. I can’t wait to go through your blog when I have a bit more time and try out some of your scrumptious recipes.

  12. I made this tart but substituted the mincemeat for strawberry jam. Was lovely! But the next day I went for a piece the frangipane had gone soggy. Is this the jam, or did I not cook it long enough?

  13. You are a very talented writer Holly. The lovely little stories, the easy to understand way you describe recipes and the general chatty style you use takes real skill. xx

  14. I’m not really a fan of Christmas pudding so this sounds perfect :-) Mr. B sounds like my boyfriend…boys always seem to have a smaller appetite for puddings!

  15. I happen to have one jar left of last years mincemeat and was thinking I need to use it up before making this years batch, so this is what I shall  use it for. Perfect!

  16. Love love love this, also love Christmas, and loved you on BBO, so this is the perfect combination for me..Pleeeease write a book, you should do a Christmas HollyDay Cookbook… or maybe Jingle, Bell’s Cookbook… Bit chliche, perhaps :) Millie x x x

  17. I’m a big fan of Christmas too, especially the cooking (and alcohol) part. This looks lush. Is there any chance of posting your gingerbread house recipe that you made on the croque en bouche episode? The whole thing looked amazing. My boys would be ecstatic! x

  18. I noticed a christmassy theme running through a lot of the things you produced on the program, I’m guessing it’s a favourite time in your household by any chance? :)

    This looks fantastic, can’t wait to give it a try.

  19. I love bakewells and I love mince pies so a combo sounds great to me. I like to mash mince pies into ice cream yin, so could do the same with this.

  20. Holly have watched you from the start, you deserved to win all the very best for the future.

  22. I love this recipe. I will definitely be trying this out with my homemade mincemeat. Btw, you’re my favourite to win GBBO :0) found you via The Pink Whisk. I’m such a fan…mummy of two busy boys, baking is my outlet from the tearaway twosome! Good luck this week :0) x

  24. Oh I do love a  good bakewell! Perfect timing too as my weekly bake off challenge this week is a bakewell slice. Cant wait to get baking!

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Holly Bell
I’m a mum of 3 boys, a cookbook writer and also a finalist on the 2011 Great British Bake Off. I’ve decided to record the recipes I use, partly to save them somewhere and partly in case someone else might like to use them... [Read more]

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