Almond/Bakewell tart recipe with crisp top???

tatli_lokma

Hi folks,

I ADORE anything almondy. My favourite is a bakewell tart. But any recipes I have found the almond part is more like an almond flavoured sponge - more spongey and light, which is nice, but what I want to make is one which is almost totally almond, and where the top is dense and wet almost, and crisp on top. My granny used to make it like this. I also had little almond tarts in Valetta in Malta where the topping went crispy.

When I say crispy, I mean along the lines of how a brownie goes on top - a bit crisp but easy to break. Is this due to the sugar and egg quantity?

If anyone has a recipe they can recommend that has this result can you please post it?

I have looked online but most of the recipes I have found and tried ended up spongy. And any other's I have found online don't say if the top is a sponge top or a crisp top.

Your wisdom is requested!

thanks

phormium

It's almost a contradiction though to be able to get a dense almost wet almond mix that would retain a crisp top, if it was crisp coming out of the oven it wouldn't be long going soft with the moisture from the almond part.

The Hairy Bikers recipe has a high proportion of almonds and no flour so should make a very dense topping, don't know if you will get the crisp top though. Your granny must have had a secret ingredient!

tatli_lokma

phormium wrote: »

It's almost a contradiction though to be able to get a dense almost wet almond mix that would retain a crisp top, if it was crisp coming out of the oven it wouldn't be long going soft with the moisture from the almond part.

well I have had it a few times - most recently in Malta where they make an almond tart which is very heavy and moist but the top of it goes crisp. And these were available all over, so not straight out of the oven. In fact we bought one and forgot about it til the next day and it had started to dry out and go a bit crumbly inside but the top was still crisp. So it is possible. Exactly in the same way that a brownie stays gooey and fudgy in the middle but on top is crisp.

Now that I think about it, years ago there was a ready mix you could get - think it was greens - for a bakewell slice. My mum used to make it sometimes - it had a crisp top on as well. As you can probably tell, my need for this recipe comes from a long rooted need to revisit my childhood! :P

I think it has something to do with the sugar and egg proportions.

Anyone???

phormium

Very interesting, makes me feel like experimenting, I love bakewell too and usually use the recipe that was on the Odlums bag years ago.

Mind you it is quite likely these type come from some sort of packet mix, some of that stuff cannot be replicated in domestic kitchens.

tatli_lokma

Granny didn't use a packet mix! I wish she had written the recipe down! she wasn't a very measured baker - more slap dash. Even the recipes I have that she wrote down don't turn out exactly right, because she always added or changed something! its taken me a few years to get her christmas cake right, but we got there eventually!

tatli_lokma

Fitzpatricks on the way to Carlingford in Dundalk make the tart exactly the way I am describing. Have just binged them off an email. Very cheeky I know, but you never know, I might get lucky if their pastry chef takes pity on me and my cravings for a crisp topped bakewell tart! lol