Has this week’s episode of Bake Off got you perfecting your pastry skills? Try this Bakewell Tart recipe from the official Bake Off recipe book

If this week’s episode of Bake Off has got you prepped to perfect your pastry, then look no further! This weekend why not try out the Bakewell Tart technical challenge from 2016 with this recipe from The Great British Bake Off At Home: Perfect Cakes & Bakes to Make, which includes recipes from Mary Berry, Paul Hollywood, and the bakers of 2016.

BAKEWELL TART

serves 12

– Judge’s Recipe –

 FOR THE JAM

200g raspberries

250g jam sugar (sugar with added pectin)

FOR THE SWEET SHORTCRUST PASTRY

225g plain flour

150g unsalted butter, chilled and diced

25g icing sugar, sifted

1 large egg, beaten to mix

2 tablespoons icy cold water

FOR THE FILLING

150g unsalted butter, softened

150g caster sugar

150g ground almonds

1 large egg, at room temperature, beaten to mix

1 teaspoon almond extract

FOR THE ICING

300g icing sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon almond extract

3 tablespoons water

pink edible food colouring (gel or paste)

YOU WILL NEED

1 x 23cm fluted, deep, loosebased flan tin; a baking sheet; a small piping bag fitted with a no. 2 plain writing nozzle

METHOD

1. To make the jam, put the raspberries in a small deep-sided pan and crush them with a potato masher. Add the sugar and dissolve over a low heat. Increase the heat and bring to the boil, then boil for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and pour into a shallow container. Cool, then cover and chill until set.

2. To make the pastry, weigh the flour into a bowl. Add the pieces of butter and rub* into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the icing sugar with a round-bladed knife. Make a well in the centre of the mixture, pour in the beaten egg and water, and mix to form a soft but not sticky dough.

3. Turn out the dough on to a lightly floured worktop and roll out to a large disc. Use to line the flan tin*. Prick the base of the pastry case well, then chill for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6.

4. Line the pastry case with baking paper and fill with baking beans, then bake blind* for 15 minutes. Remove the beans and paper and bake for a further 5 minutes to dry out the base. Set aside to cool. Reduce the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4 and put the baking sheet into the oven to heat up.

5. For the filling, put the butter and sugar in a bowl and cream together until pale and fluffy using a hand-held electric whisk or wooden spoon. Add the ground almonds, egg and almond extract and mix in with a plastic spatula.

6. Spoon 4 tablespoons of the raspberry jam into the pastry case and spread evenly over the base. Spoon the filling mixture on top and spread out gently until level using an offset palette knife. Set the flan tin on the heated baking sheet in the oven and bake for 25–35 minutes until the filling is golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Transfer the tin to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

7. For the icing, mix the icing sugar with the almond extract and cold water to make a smooth, fairly thick but still fluid consistency. Transfer 3 tablespoons of the icing to a separate bowl. Tint with a little pink food colouring to make a raspberry-coloured icing. Spoon this icing into the small piping bag.

8. Spoon the white icing on top of the tart and spread out evenly with an offset palette knife. Pipe the pink icing in parallel lines over the white icing, then drag a cocktail stick through the lines to create a feathered effect. Leave to set.

Follow these steps and you should be left with this beautiful finished product:

The Great British Bake Off At Home: Perfect Cakes & Bakes to Make is out now and currently only 99p on Kindle!