MINI BAKEWELLS WITH FRESH RASBERRIES

WITH their rich shortcrust pastry, these classic Bakewell tarts are hard to resist. The trick is not to over-fill the tart cases, so the filling stays neat and rounded as it bakes.

Makes 12 tarts

Kit you’ll need

7.5cm (3in) round, fluted pastry cutter 12-hole shallow bun tin

For the rich shortcrust pastry

175g (6oz) plain flour 95g (3¼oz) chilled butter, diced 1 tsp icing sugar 1 medium egg yolk

For the filling

50g (1¾oz) butter, at room temperature 50g (1¾oz) golden caster sugar 2 medium eggs, beaten 50g (1¾oz) ground almonds Few drops almond extract 2 tbsp raspberry jam 12 raspberries Handful flaked almonds

1 Put the flour, butter and icing sugar into a large bowl. Rub in until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. Drop in the egg yolk and 1 tbsp cold water (add more if needed to bring the dough together) and stir with a roundbladed knife to form a dough. Gently work the dough into a smooth ball with your hands, being careful not to over-handle. (Or make the pastry in a food processor.) Shape the dough into a thick disc, wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 15-20 minutes, until firm but not hard.

2 Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to the thickness of a £1 coin. Use the pastry cutter to cut out circles. Gather up the leftover pastry, re-roll and cut out more until you have 12. Line each hole of the greased bun tin with the pastry circles, then chill for 15 minutes as you make the almond filling. Preheat the oven to 190c/170c fan/375f/gas 5.

3 Beat the butter and sugar with a wooden spoon until fluffy and pale. Start to beat in the eggs a little at a time, beating well between each addition. Don’t worry if the mixture looks curdled. Stir in the ground almonds and almond extract (the mixture will be runny).

4 Spoon ½ tsp of the jam into the bottom of each pastry circle. Now spoon enough of the almond filling into each tart case to almost fill. Don’t be tempted to overfill or the mixture will bubble over as it bakes. Sit a raspberry in the middle and press it lightly into the filling, but not all the way down. Scatter a few flaked almonds around each raspberry.

5 Bake for 20 minutes, until pale golden on top and the pastry is cooked. Cool slightly and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.