Saturday, June 27, 2009

Bake well, cook well, live well

This might be my shortest Daring Bakers post ever. It's just been a crazy busy couple of months and I BARELY got this little guy in under the wire. As you (perhaps) know, I've been traveling. I was gone for about 17 days which truly is a long time in the span of a month! I've been home just over a week and already cooked dinner for people on 3 different occasions!

June's Daring Bakers Challenge was: Bakewell Tarts!

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.

As much as I kept thinking the "Bakewell" part of the name had something to do with how the tarts are cooked -- Baked -- it turns out it's actually the name of the town from which the tarts originated: Bakewell, England.


I had to make these in my mom's kitchen a couple days ago since I was quickly running out of time and had an afternoon there with nothing else I needed to do! It's amazing how even though I grew up baking/cooking in my mother's kitchen -- and she is ONE FANTASTIC COOK. My baking has advanced even beyond what I'd learned from her. Therefore, I felt a bit limited by certain things. She has a very old scale that isn't precise (think: balancing act), was out of lemon extract and doesn't rush to replace it like I would, only has one microplane with a rather course grate so my lemon zest was "bigger" than I would have liked, all her dishes have colored patterns on them (not what I really like to photograph) and her work area is lit with fluorescents - AWFUL photography lighting! Haha - how accustomed we become to working in our own kitchens...


(l) Mom's butter was frozen in 1 pound blocks and I only needed 2T, so I just used my pastry blender with chilled (not frozen) butter ~~~~ (r) And THAT is Mom's scale. Put it on the weight you need, then add the ingredient until the notches balance evenly. Wow.


I loved how you could see the different flecks in the dough

I'm sorry to say that as I read the recipe for this month's challenge, I was a little disheartened and not very excited about it. This happens, and that's fine. Everyone is different and everyone likes different things. I tried to doctor the finished product into something I thought I'd like more (and also be able to serve to my parents - who dislike almond flavoring). I came up with these small variations:
  • I made only half a recipe which resulted in 4 tarts.
  • I made my favorite lemon curd and made lots of it!
  • I threw a bit of lemon zest into the almond frangipane, while replacing the almond extract with vanilla (would have used lemon, but as I mentioned, Mom was out!)
  • I put WAY more curd into the middle than was recommended. I just wanted as little of the almond cake as possible.
They look like Chinese dan-tat!!

The result was... actually quite decent - which is great! I put A LOT of lemon curd in there. LOTS. So much that I originally thought it wasn't baked all the way through. But then I realized the curd had just redistributed as it bubbled and boiled inside the tart. It actually sorta tasted like a big lemon bar!

So lemon-bar like!

Thanks so much to Jasmine and Annemarie for hosting this month's challenge! Whether I like what I bake or not (and believe me, sometimes I pick out recipes I don't end up liking, also) it's always fantastic to learn about a new food. There are tons more [likely] better Bakewell tarts out there from my Daring Baker friends today. Browse and enjoy!

I haven't been on the blog in a while - just wanted to say hi everyone!

28 comments:

  1. OOOOhhhhooo! Those look delicious! I love the big layer of lemon curd :) Welcome back from your travels!

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  2. How divine! Great job on this month's challenge.

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  3. Lemon curd tarts...delicious! Great job!

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  4. Lisa Rocks..and I don't mean moi! Those tarts look straight out of Art Culinaire! Gorgeous, and they look delicious! :) Lemony, light and so delicate!

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  5. Lemon curd tarts - what a lovely idea! They look delicious!

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  6. Yum, these look amazing! Love your changes...the lemon filling sounds divine!

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  7. your little tarts are so pretty!

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  8. They look so good! I love your choice of filling!

    What a cute dog!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  9. Yum!! I love the lemon =D!! Beautiful job on your tarts.

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  10. Lisa if this is what you did in a hurry, can just imagine what you would turn out with time on your hands. They are fab & so are th epictures. I love the angle of light & photography! Just gorgeous. Thank you for stopping by.I use good ole Picasa (a free Google application) for collages coz it takes me forever to work Photoshop.Take care...

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  11. Yum, a lemon-bar-bakewell-tart sounds perfect to me! The photos are really stunning... love the presentations of the tarts!

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  12. These look fabulous! They turned out wonderful despite all of your "hinderances". :)

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  13. I just love your lemon curd filling. The photos are really amazing!

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  14. The tarts look amazing but that photo of your dog is the real show-stealer. Adorable!

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  15. The tartlets look lovely and great presentation at that.

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  16. Against all odds, your tartelettes and pictures came out beautiful!

    My mom has the same scale, it's the one where she used to weigh me when I was a baby (I'm 40 now, and the scale is still perfectly precise, so maybe our moms aren't wrong keeping their scales!)

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  17. That's exactly what your picture reminder me of - a lemon bar. Yum! Nice job!

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  18. Those little tarts look like bits of sunshine. :)
    I don't have a scale.;)

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  19. Lemon curd is one of my faves. The tarts are gorgeous, and no doubt delicious!

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  20. These look every so yummy...but they're not Bakewell Tarts or Puddings. I like to make traditional and regional bakes, and last week I made and blogged about a traditional Bakewell Tart too.

    The original recipe doesn't use any lemon. It's pastry, raspberry/strawberry jam (I think it should be raspberry, but I'm not sure), then almond sponge. Ones you buy from the shops are also covered in icing, but that's not how Bakewell does it. For the sake of sampling traditional fare, I suggest you try making a Bakewell Tart!

    Great Lemon Tarts though!

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  21. These look every so yummy...but they're not Bakewell Tarts or Puddings. I like to make traditional and regional bakes, and last week I made and blogged about a traditional Bakewell Tart too.

    The original recipe doesn't use any lemon. It's pastry, raspberry/strawberry jam (I think it should be raspberry, but I'm not sure), then almond sponge. Ones you buy from the shops are also covered in icing, but that's not how Bakewell does it. For the sake of sampling traditional fare, I suggest you try making a Bakewell Tart!

    Great Lemon Tarts though!

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  22. Your tarts show no sign of being hurried... I know because mine was - and it shows! ;) Beautifully done!

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  23. Your photos are just gorgeous. Those tarts look absolutely stunning. Well done!

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  24. The lemon curd looks so pretty even without the frangipane topping!

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  25. they look so beautiful. and your dog is the cutest. i'm picking up my very first puppy on friday - a great dane - i'm so excited!

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  26. Beautiful photos! Lemon sounds perfect for summer!

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  27. They look gorgeous--great photos.

    Thanks for participating.
    j

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  28. I bet these were good. The almond filling was so sweet, I bet lemon tasted great with it. Lovely presentation, too!

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