17 and Baking

A Mojito Bakewell Tart To Beat The Heat – Daring Bakers

June 27, 2009 at 12:00 am 53 comments

It’s nearly July.

You’ve got it in your head that you want to remodel your front yard. You’re going to pull out all the old grass, taking the moss and weeds with it, and replant new seeds. You’re going to transfer your herb garden, plant lots of beautiful flowers, and create a fence with espalier fruit trees – apple, pear, and asian pear. You might even ask your teenage daughter to help once in a while.

And generally, it’s hard work. Hard, hot work. You can drink all the water you want, but what would really cool you off?

A mojito!

I know some of you guys were intrigued by the jelly that I put up earlier this week. There were a lot of great guesses, and some of them got pretty close but nobody got it quite right. It turns out, this little jar is much more than a delicious batch of lime and mint jelly. It’s part of this month’s Daring Bakers challenge!

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.

The Bakewell Tart is a tart crust spread with jam, jelly, curd, or even chocolate, and then topped with moist, spongy almond frangipane. For the challenge we were asked to make the crust and frangipane as instructed, but we had freedom over the jelly.

I’d never made jelly by myself before, so I knew that I definitely wanted to make that part of the challenge. I played with so many different flavors in my head before finally settling on lime and mint. It’s a slightly unusual combination for a jelly, and it sounded so utterly different and refreshing that I knew it would make this pretty challenge even more special.

When I told my dad my flavor combination, he said, “Why not make mojitos to go along?” So he brought the mint, the limes, and the rum, and I headed next door to ask the neighbors for a bowl of ice. The result was a cool, fresh mojito. It turns out, I really like them. I think I could have probably had one or two all by myself. Luckily my parents and I shared two glasses among us and I was able to really focus on the tart as well. :)

I was a little unsure about how almond would pair with lime and mint, but the tart was super delicious. On its own, the jelly is fantastic. It’s tangy and bursting with flavor, and tastes so bright that everyone is a little surprised when they first try it. In the tart, the flavor was much more subdued. In hindsight, a jam like raspberry, pear, or peach would have probably better fit the tart, but the mojito jelly did add a lovely green stripe and interesting twist to an otherwise straightforward dessert.

The tart crust was a huge hit, especially with my dad. It’s officially my new go-to tart crust. And the frangipane? I’d never made it before, but I can’t get enough of it. I’d love to try making it with other nuts (pistachio or hazelnut, maybe?) and the jelly is definitely a recipe I’ll keep. Three components, three successes… what a challenge!

I made the jelly first. I’m not sure it came out absolutely perfectly… the jelly didn’t fully solidify in the unopened jars. I put the one that I opened in the refrigerator, however, and the jelly had a great texture. I really encourage you guys to try this recipe… While it looks a bit unusual, the taste has such a zing. Next time I might filter out the bits of lime zest and mint, or perhaps I would try to cut them smaller.

I used half regular mint, and half orange mint that we grow in our garden. The orange mint is much more mild and sweet and has a slight citrus scent that went quite nicely with the lime, but standard mint works well too.

Mojito (Lime and Mint) Jelly
Adapted from Cookin’ With Cyndi
Makes 5 half-pints

2 tablespoons lime zest
3/4 cup lime juice
3/4 cup freshly packed mint leaves, finely chopped
1 3/4 cups water
4 cups sugar
Green liquid food coloring
3 oz liquid fruit pectin

The jars must be completely sterilized. Put the glass jars, lids, and a funnel into a large pan and cover with water. Boil for 20 minutes, or follow the directions that come along with the lids. When the jars are removed from the water they will dry off almost immediately, so wait until the jelly is nearly ready.

Combine zest, juice, mint, and water in a 4 quart saucepan and stir in sugar. Bring mixture to a boil over high heat, constantly stirring. Add a few drops of food coloring and stir in fruit pectin. Bring to a full rolling boil for one minute, then remove from heat and skim off the foam with a metal spoon.

Pour the jelly into hot, sterilized jars, using the sterilized funnel and leaving 1/4″ headway in each jar. Cover immediately with lids and screw on the bands finger tight. Process the jars in boiling water for 5-10 minutes, then cool jars on wire racks.

I made an 8″ tart and a small 4″ tart from this recipe, which originally makes a 9″ tart.

Sweet Shortcrust Pastry
Makes a 9″ tart

225g (8oz) all purpose flour
30g (1oz) sugar
2.5ml (½ tsp) salt
110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
2 (2) egg yolks
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract (optional)
15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) cold water

Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.

Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.

Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Frangipane

125g (4.5oz) unsalted butter, softened
125g (4.5oz) icing sugar
3 (3) eggs
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract
125g (4.5oz) ground almonds
30g (1oz) all purpose flour

Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is primrose in colour and very fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle. In the words of Douglas Adams: Don’t panic. Really. It’ll be fine. After all three are in, pour in the almond extract and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well. The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the almonds) and retain its pallid yellow colour.

Mojito Bakewell Tart
Makes a 9″ Tart

1 recipe Sweet Shortcrust Pastry (see above)
1 recipe Frangipane (see above)
1 cup Mojito Jelly (see above)

Place the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it’s overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimatised for about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 5mm (1/4”) thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the centre and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to the tart pan, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base. Top with frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart. Smooth the top and pop into the oven for 35 minutes.

The finished tart will have a golden crust and the frangipane will be tanned, poofy and a bit spongy-looking. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter. Serve warm, with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard sauce if you wish.

When you slice into the tart, the almond paste will be firm, but slightly squidgy and the crust should be crisp but not tough.

Printer Friendly Version – Mojito Bakewell Tart with Mojito Jelly

I also highly recommend you check out the other Daring Bakers’ versions of this tart. From chocolate to lemon curd to more flavors of jam than I can list, every creation is super special. Thanks again for the great challenge!

Update: I’m giving away a jar of the Mojito Jelly! Post a comment to be entered… Ends July 6th, 2009.

Entry filed under: Daring Bakers, Pies/Tarts. Tags: almond, Daring Bakers, jam, lime, mint, nuts, tarts.