Bakewell Tart with Apple Rosemary Jelly

Forever interested in how I can combine my preserve-making with baking, I've long had my eye on the Bakewell Tart. I was reminded of it recently, on my visit to Pleasant House Bakery, a British-inspired pie shop in Chicago which features it on their sweet menu, right next to banoffee pie (another one to try soon) and various seasonal trifles.

The name for the tart comes from the village of Bakewell in Derbyshire, England, and like the best classic desserts, there seems to be a bit of lore surrounding it. The first recipe for this shortcrust pastry tart with a bottom layer of jam and a frangipane top layer appeared in 1845, but was apparently not given the moniker "Bakewell" until the 20th century. Legend goes though, that it was invented in the mid-1800s by a baker in the town, who by mistake put the layer of jam on the bottom instead of the top, where it was intended to go. There are also Bakewell puddings, similar confections, but with a flaky crust rather than a short crust.



For my version, I used an apple-rosemary jelly that I had made last fall and needed to use up. I adapted the frangipane filling recipe from Smitten Kitchen's version, and tried out the sablé crust recipe from another Chicago bakery, Floriole, straying from my usual Dorie Greenspan recipe. I love this one though-- it comes together easily (you can use your mixer!) and is a little lighter and more shortbread biscuit-like than Greenspan's. I'll still use hers for other recipes, no doubt, but Floriole's is just perfect here.

Apple Rosemary Jelly
From The River Cottage Preserves Handbook

Makes 4-5 8-oz. jars

Ingredients
3 lbs., 6 oz. cooking apples
1 medium bunch of rosemary
7 Tblsp. apple cider vinegar
Granulated sugar

Directions
1. Coarsely chop the apples, but no need to peel or core them. Place them in a preserving pan with rosemary, reserving 6 small sprigs to put into jars. Barely cover the apples with water, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat and let simmer, 45 minutes-1 hour, until the apples are quite soft.

2. Pour the contents of the pan into a jelly strainer bag (I used cheesecloth) suspended over a large bowl, and let drip for at least 2 hours, or overnight.

3. Measure the strained apple-rosemary juice. For every cup of juice, measure 1 c. sugar into a bowl and set aside. Return the juice to the cleaned-out pan and add apple-cider vinegar. Heat the liquid to a boil, then add the sugar, stirring until dissolved. Increase the heat to high and boil rapidly for 10 minutes until the setting point is reached, or liquid reaches a temperature of 220 degrees F. Remove pan from heat and skim top with a slotted spoon to remove any scum.

4. Pour jelly into warm, sterilized jars, adding a rosemary sprig to each. Cover jars and seal (make sure to follow proper canning methods--the FDA is a good resource) and use within 1 year.

Bakewell Tart

Crust from Floriole, Filling adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Makes 1, 11-inch tart

Ingredients

For the sablé crust:

8 oz. (2 sticks) soft butter

3/4 c. sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

2 large eggs

3 1/4 c. all-purpose flour

For the filling:
1 c. coarsely chopped and blanched almonds
1 1/2 Tblsp. all-purpose flour
2/3 c. sugar
9 tablespoons (1 stick + 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
1 large egg white
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest
 1/2 c. apple rosemary jam (or jam of your choice)
Slivered or sliced almonds, for garnish (optional)

Directions

For the sable crust:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter, sugar and salt. Mix until well combined and the mixture just begins to lighten. Add eggs the eggs one at a time, allowing each egg to fully incorporate before adding the next. Add the flour all at once and mix on low speed until homogenous.

2. Form dough into a ball and pat it out into a disc. Wrap with plastic and chill-- Sandra recommends at least three hours or overnight, but I chilled mine for about 2 and it did the trick.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out into a 12-inch circle about 1/4-inch thick. Place the dough into the 11-inch removable bottom tart pan. Press the dough into the corners and remove excess dough. Prick the bottom of the crust all over with a fork and chill while you prepare the filling (at least 15 minutes). 

For the filling:

1. In a food processor, finely grind almonds and flour. Mix in the sugar, then the butter, extract, and lemon zest, blending until smooth. Add the egg and egg white and mix until incorporated. Transfer the filling to medium bowl. Cover and chill at least 3 hours (I was pressed for time so did about 1.5 hours and it was fine). 

2. Preheat oven to 350° F. Spread jam over the base of tart shell. Dollop the almond filling all over the jam, then spread it carefully with an offset spatula. If you're using slivered or sliced almonds as garnish, sprinkle them over the top now. 

3. Bake the tart until golden and a toothpick or fork inserted into the center of the filling comes out clean, approximately 45 minutes. Cool the tart in pan on rack.

4. To serve, push the pan bottom up, releasing tart from pan. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired and serve warm or at room temperature, with tea.

I set out the tart on an old-timey brew and nosh bar we set up in the living room as an "opening act" to a house concert by my friends Anna Roberts-Gevalt and Elizabeth LaPrelle aka Anna + Elizabeth. There were homemade cordials, infusions, and brews; tarts, citrus poppyseed cake, and spiced nuts; and British ballads, Appalachian fiddle tunes, and original cranky shows.

Related recipe:
Almond and Grapefruit-Ginger Marmalade Crostata

Stargazy Quail Pie

Consider this more of a historical experiment than a culinary one. But don't get me wrong, it was indeed a culinary EXPERIMENT--my first time cooking quail, and a somewhat rare occurrence of cooking meat; I'm just not sure how much I can endorse this as an enjoyable pie to eat. But I've deemed 2013 the year of the savory pie, so I guess there was no other way to start but to dive right in...

I initially set out to make a "modernized" version of 4 and 20 Blackbirds Pie from the Mother Goose nursery rhyme (more on that soon here!). Since it would be rather difficult and probably not culturally acceptable to catch small live birds and stuff them inside a pie, I decided instead, well, to use dead ones. Some suggested cornish game hens and others suggested quail, so after doing a little research in a few cookbooks and on the ol' internet, I found two recipes-- one for a Medieval Game Pot Pie from Alton Brown and another for Stargazing Quail Pie from the British Pieminister Cookbook. Both require stuffing whole birds and baking them in a crust, their little legs poking through. Eeeep!

Stargazy Pie is a Cornish dish, traditionally made with pilchards, or sardines. Their heads are baked sticking out of the crust, giving the appearance that they're gazing at the sky, but this practice also allows the oils and juices from the fish to flow back into the pie, making it moist. The pie originates from the small fishing village of Mousehole in Cornwall and is usually served on Tom Bawcock's Eve, celebration the heroics of fisherman it's named after. The story, dating back to the 16th century, goes that one Christmas the town was nearing starvation, as storms had been raging on the coast, grounding all the fishing boats. On December 23rd, the brave Bawcock ventured out to see, scored a catch, and made it safely home, thus saving Christmas and the entire village population. The whole catch, which included 7 different types of fish, was then said to have been baked into a pie. As I child, I remember reading about this story in the children's book The Mousehole Cat.

Along with the usual fish, stargazy pie is a hearty affair, generally containing heaps of onions and potatoes. I ended up combining the two recipes I found, using quail, but instead of opting for the Middle Eastern-inspired filling that Pieminister uses, I made an adapted version of Alton Brown's dried fruit stuffing for more of a mincepie flair. In the end, the flavor was great, but I honestly had a bit of a mental block--the tininess of the quail made me a little uncomfortable, as did their little legs sticking out of the crust (more crustgazy than stargazy)! Like I said, this was more of a historical exercise than a culinary one--it did make me think why some recipes persist and some fall out of favor. It didn't suit my taste, but perhaps those less squeamish than me will just eat this up.

Stargazy Quail Pie
An amalgamation of recipes by Pieminister and Alton Brown

Ingredients
Nothing-in-the-House pie crust
4 Tblsp. olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
6 oz. mixed dried fruit (apricots, figs, and crystalized ginger)
1/4 c. pine nuts, lightly toasted
1 small bunch of thyme, leaves picked and chopped
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. paprika
zest of 1 lemon
2 Tblsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. sea salt

1 1/2 Tblsp. unsalted butter

4 quails (defrosted, if frozen)

sea salt

Directions
1. Prepare the Nothing-in-the-House pie crust as per the directions. Chill dough at least 1 hour. Once chilled, roll out 1/2 of pie crust and fit into a 8 or 9-inch greased and floured deep casserole dish. You can choose to roll out the top-crust now and refrigerate it flat, or roll it out once you've prepared the filling. Either way, you should put both the remaining crust and the pie pan in the fridge while you prepare the filling.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat 2 Tblsp. olive oil in a pan, add the onion and garlic and cook over very low heat 15-20 minutes until onions are translucent and golden. Transfer to a medium-sized bowl and add dried fruit, pine nuts, thyme, spices, and lemon zest and juice. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

3. Heat remaining 2 Tblsp. olive oil and butter in a frying pan or skillet large enough to hold the quails. Rinse birds, then place them in the pan and season them with salt and pepper. Fry for about 5 minutes on each side until golden. Remove them from the heat and stuff loosely with filling.  

4. Put remaining filling into the bottom of the pie crust and make 4 spaces to hold the quails. Put them in so that their legs are sticking up and arrange the filling around them so they stay upright.  Roll out the other crust half if you haven't already. Cut 4 slits in the crust for the quail legs and place on top of the pie. Pull legs through and flute crust to seal. Brush with an egg wash and bake for 40-45 minutes until the crust is golden and the birds are cooked through. Serves 4.

Vintage Pie Birds

Vintage classic pie birds c. 1960

 Pie birds (or funnels) are small figurines, generally in the shape of a bird, but not always (see below), inserted into the middle of a double crust pie to let out steam and prevent spillage.  Some models also assist in supporting the pie crust so it does not collapse in the middle. According to this story in Country Living, pie "birds"/funnels first appeared in England at the turn of the 19th century, in various forms. They didn't take on the shape of birds, however, until the 1930s in the United States, with the nursery rhyme, "Sing A Song of Sixpence" (4 and 20 blackbirds baked into a pie) serving as inspiration.

I tend to feel that I don't need a pie bird...in some cases you want to keep the steam inside the pie, to help cook your fruit (with an apple pie, for instance).  But they are an interesting piece of material culture as well as a collector's item. Apparently they were more necessary in the past, as older ovens did not bake as uniformly as modern versions.

Here are a few of my favorite vintage and modern pie birds, sourced from that Country Living Article and Ebay (where there are many to be found). See a classic modern pie bird (and nothing-in-the-house mascot) at right. 

Stuart Bass pie goat with pie (very meta and makes me wonder why his pie doesn't have a pie bird?!)

British pie funnel c. 1909, its divider allows you to bake two different flavors in one pie

 Pie fruits, made in Taiwan c. 1960

By Camark Pottery Company (missing 3 from a 10 piece set) c. 1940s--to match your Fiestaware

Would love to see some of our readers' pie birds, if anyone has a collection...

"Speaking Pie To Power"

As a pie blogger and folklorist with personal, professional, and academic interest in food (particularly pie) -as-social-change, I would be remiss to not at least MENTION the pied Rupert Murdoch incident. In referencing the attack, my friend Nathan told me about his friend Audrey Watters, a historian/folklorist who studies the use of pies in political protest (a lady after my own heart!). Read her post/essay "Speaking Pie to Power" here.

Here is a Country Woman Making Rabbit Pies

Please regard this 1934 video from the British Film Institute's "Kitchen-Craft" series. As a vegetarian, I find the full skinned rabbit carcass a bit gross, but this video is full of hilarious one-liners ("Here is a country woman and she is going to show you how to make rabbit and pork into pies," "be generous with your bacon," "no bits, no mess, all in a tidy heap") and some interesting pie-making techniques, like the decorative "beating" of the crust. Enjoy and please let me know if you try out this recipe...

English Country Pie

I try not to stray too far into pie-themed tangents here, but Fairport Convention is one of my favorite bands, Dylan ain't too shabby, and y'all know how I feel about pie...

Women's Land Army Pie Lunch

Via the BBC:
The Women's Land Army was set up in June 1939 to help on farms, increase the amount of food grown in Britain and replace male agricultural workers, who were away fighting the war.
At its peak in 1943, there were 80,000 Land Girls who carried out tasks such as hoeing, ploughing, lifting potatoes, lambing and looking after poultry.

Lady farmers with great 40s fashion (johdpurs! knee-highs! waves!) enter the haystack Pie Enjoyment Zone with English savory pies. What more could you want?

The Painswick Dog Pie

While browsing old folklore journals for an annotated bibliography assignment for my Folklore Theory class, I came across this brief article, published in the December 1897 volume of Folklore, a British academic journal. The article, by A.B. Gomme, remarks on the tradition of baking small porcelain dog figurines into plum pies on Painswick Feast-Day, celebrated the Sunday after September 19th (as good a day for a feast as any, I suppose!). The story goes that this Painswick, England tradition apparently came about when some travelers from Stroud came a-visiting and ordered a meat pie. There was no more meat, so the village butcher looked around for a substitute-- and his eyes finally settled on his poor dog.

There is a varying explanation, but I thought you might like to go straight to the source (particularly because it makes great use of the word "bugbear"). Here's a snapshot of the 1897 article (click to enlarge):
If anyone ever finds a porcelain Painswick dog, do send it my way, and we'll put it in a bow-wow pie next time sunday-after-september-the-nineteenth rolls around!