Cherry Bakewell Slice

Firstly I'm going to say you can skip the whole first step of this recipe and buy 375g ready rolled sweet short crust pastry from your local supermarket but to me baking don't truly seem homemade if you haven't done everything by yourself. This is the same recipe I used for my apple tarts with the quantities adjusted. It is very easy and quick to complete. Firstly you will need:

Pastry:

225 Unsalted Butter

375g Plain Flour

75g Caster Sugar

Splash of cold water

Rub together the butter and the flour with your fingertips. Tap the edges of the bowl to bring all the large crumbs to the surface. Keep rubbing until the crumbs are slightly yellow and fine. Then add the sugar to the crumbs and water to form a dough being careful to only add a VERY LITTLE at a time. I ended up using more than a splash but its better to be safe than sorry. Grease the base and sides of a rectangular tin and lift the rolled pastry into the tin and make sure its all pressed into the corners. Prick the base with a fork and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes. Line the pastry case with nonstick baking paper or cling film (yes it will be fine in the oven) and fill with baking beans. I think I might have packed it to heavily with beans though and it was a little hard. Oops!! Bake the pastry for 10 minutes at 180゜until just cooked but not coloured. Remove the beans and baking paper and return to the oven for 2 minutes to crisp up the base. If you don't have baking beads this step is not essential- I have made it without blind baking and it's turned out just fine.

For the sponge mixture you will require: 

200g butter

200g caster sugar

100g self-raising flour

1tsp baking powder

1/2tsp almond extract

4 eggs

Put the butter, sugar, almonds, flour, baking powder, almond extract and eggs in a large bowl and beat until combined. Spread the jam over the cooled pastry in an even layer then top with the sponge mixture. Scatter the almonds over the top of the sponge. Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes or until firm and just golden. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely.

I then mixed together 50g of icing sugar and 1.5 tsp of water and drizzled this over the sponge in an 'artful' way and topped with as many cherries and I could fit! The sponge in this recipe is super light and totally delicious. Would definably recommend giving these ago. Oh and the ingredients given are for one tray- I was experimenting with quantities of pastry. Enjoy!