Bakewell Tarts

Growing up as a kid, my dad used to live in Lumut, Perak (Malaysia) because that is where the Royal Malaysian Navy base is. One of his friends's wife is a lovely British lady and she used to make Bakewell tarts for us. I still remember she would make about two dozen of these tarts and pack them into the big Milo tins for us. It was so delicious!

Recently, I asked her for the recipe. She is probably 70 years old now, does not own a computer or have email, so she took a photocopy of the original recipe and she put it in the post for me. The recipe is so old that it is in ounces and pounds. When I got it in my letterbox, I was so excited!

I made it today, and it turned out exactly like how I remembered it, which is YUMMY! This is a simple recipe and that is what makes it so amazing. Simplicity at its best!

I am going to share it with you here. I halved the ingredients from the original recipe (I tend to half a lot of recipes only because it is impossible for Grumpy and I to eat so much), and of course, I converted it from ounces and pounds to grams.

Bakewell Tarts

(makes a dozen)

Filling

55g caster sugar

55g butter or margarine

55g plain flour

1 egg

1 level teaspoon baking powder

Jam (I use a good quality strawberry jam)

Pastry

200g plain flour

100g butter

1/4 cup water

pinch of salt

1. To make filling, beat sugar and butter till creamy. Add the egg. Fold in flour and baking powder. Set aside

2. To make pastry, sift the flour. Add the butter and salt. Rub together with the fingertips till flour and butter are mixed. Add water a little at a time, taking care not to allow the mixture to get too wet.

3. Grease cake tins. Roll out the pastry using cake cutters. Place in cake tins.

4. Put a teaspoon of jam in each tin, then add a teaspoon of filling mix.

5. Cook on lower shelf in oven at 180deg Celcius, for 20 minutes.

6. When pastry turns brownish, put up to a higher shelf for 3-4 minutes.

Enjoy!