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Dessert

Bakewell Tart

A pastry tart filled with raspberry jam and almond custard.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Raspberry and almond match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 552 recipes. Both carry alpha-pinene, which smells pine, turpentine. The science ↓

Bakewell Tart

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Cream the butter and sugar together until thick and white.

  2. Stir in the 2 yolks and 1 white of egg.

  3. Add the ground almonds and a few drops of almond essence, then beat well.

  4. Line a flat dish with the pastry.

  5. Spread a good layer of raspberry jam on the bottom.

  6. Spread the almond mixture lightly on top of the jam.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for about 1 hour.

  2. Serve hot or cold.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Raspberry + almondtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together552 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  2. Almond + buttertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,245 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

  3. Raspberry + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,308 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Butter
Creamed with sugar to trap air, giving the filling a light, tender texture.
Egg yolks
Add richness and moisture and help bind the almond filling as it sets.
Egg white
Adds structure and helps the filling set and hold together when baked.
Ground almonds
Give the filling its moist, dense texture and rich nutty flavour.
Raspberry jam
Adds sweetness and fruity acidity that contrasts with the rich almond layer.
Short crust pastry
Forms the crisp base that holds the jam and almond filling.

The step that matters

Spreading the almond mixture lightly over the jam. A thick, heavy layer of almond mixture can sink into the jam and bake unevenly. A light spread lets the filling set as a distinct layer over the fruit.

Swap the raspberry

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (almond, sugar, butter, egg):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Raisinfits better
  3. Figfits better
  4. Raspberrythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against almond, sugar, butter, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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