Bakewell pudding is an English dessert that originated in the Derbyshire town of Bakewell. It's made from a deliciously flaky puff pastry base, with a layer of jam and topped with an egg and almond filling. It's a dessert that many of us grew up eating, so why not try making it yourself?
More of an afternoon tea item, than a dessert, a slice of this is the perfect pick-me-up with a cup of tea. A light and gelatinous sugary eggy filling on top of sweet raspberry jam. It looks more complicated than it is, as it's actually a really simple dessert to make.
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Why you will love it
- A delicious traditional English dessert
- Really easy to make
- Save time with store bought pastry
- Bakes in just 40 minutes
Ingredients needed
- Puff pastry - We used store bought to save ourselves time. You honestly can't taste the difference, but if you want you could make your own.
- Raspberry jam - We used seedless, but that really is a preference thing.
- Fresh raspberries - These are crushed up and put on top of the jam, but you could skip this step.
- Butter - Use unsalted.
- Sugar - We used caster sugar, as it gives volume and makes this Bakewell pudding light.
- Eggs - The fresher the better and try to go for organic of free range.
- Almonds - We used whole almonds and ground them in a food processor. You can buy already ground almonds if you want.
- Almond extract - Although this recipe already contains a lot of almonds, the almond extract gives it an extra punch of flavour.
A full ingredients list with measurements is in the recipe card below.
Step by step
One: Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas 5. Grease a 23cm/9in loose-bottomed tart tin. Using a rolling pin, roll the pastry over the tin. Gently press the pastry into the edges and prick the bottom with a fork (this is known as docking the pastry).
Two: Place a piece of baking paper over the pastry and fill with baking beads. Blind bake for 15 minutes, until the pastry is firm. Take out of the oven and remove the baking beads (careful - they will be hot!). Return the pastry to the oven and cook for a further 5 minutes.
Three: Carefully spread the raspberry jam evenly over the pastry base. Add the fresh raspberries and lightly crush them. Set aside.
Four: In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat the eggs together and gradually stir them in to the butter and sugar mixture.
Five: Add the almonds and almond extract and mix well.
Six: Pour the filling mixture into the pastry case and gently spread it evenly over the raspberry layer. Bake the tart on the middle shelf of the oven for 35-40 minutes, or until the surface is golden-brown.
Seven: Allow to cool and then dust with icing sugar. Serve with the remaining raspberries and a dollop of clotted cream.
What is the origin?
The earliest reference of a Bakewell pudding dates back to 1826 where it was actually made by accident, where a cook poured the egg mixture over the jam, rather than mixing it into the flour mixture. I have always stood by the fact that the best recipes are made by accident.
It is thought that this desert actually dates back to medieval times as far as the 15th century that that it was a dessert for noblemen, as it was made with costly ingredients such as almonds, butter and sugar.
FAQs
A pudding uses a puff pastry crust, whereas a tart is more like a pie and uses a short crust base.
Yes! You need to "dock the pastry" as this allows the steam to escape so that the pie crust doesn't puff up in the oven. This is done before blind baking and then filling the pastry.
Yes, you need to blind bake the pastry first for this recipe. This is because the filling has a shorter bake time than the crust. Blind baking is also used to keep pie crust from becoming soggy due to a wet filling.
If you don't have baking beads, you can use many dried foodstuffs as baking weights. Thing such as rice, lentils, dried peas, beans or many other pulses can be used instead.
This is really a preference thing. We like it served warm, fresh out of the oven. However you can also serve leftovers cold.
Traditionally you would serve Bakewell pudding with a big dollop of clotted cream. It makes it deliciously indulgent. However, you could also serve it with a scoop of ice cream. You could even go the unconventional route and serve it with custard - but you might offend quite a few people from Bakewell.
More dessert recipes
If you’ve tried this Bakewell Pudding recipe, let us know how you got on in the comments below.
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Recipe
Bakewell Pudding
Ingredients
- 375 g (18 oz) Puff pastry
- 4 tablespoon Seedless raspberry jam
- 90 g (1.25 cups) Raspberries
- 75 g (3.5 oz) Butter - unsalted; plus extra for greasing
- 30 g (0.5 cups) Caster sugar
- 2 Eggs - whisked
- 40 g (1.33 cups) Ground almonds
- 1 teaspoon Almond essence
- Icing sugar - for dusting; optional
- Clotted cream - to serve; optional
- Flaked almonds - to serve; optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas 5. Grease a 23cm/9in loose-bottomed tart tin. Using a rolling pin, roll 375 g Puff pastry over the tin. Gently press the pastry into the edges and prick the bottom with a fork (this is known as docking the pastry).
- Place a piece of baking paper over the pastry and fill with baking beads. Blind bake for 15 minutes, until the pastry is firm. Take out of the oven and remove the baking beads (careful - they will be hot!). Return the pastry to the oven and cook for a further 5 minutes.
- Carefully spread 4 tablespoon Seedless raspberry jam evenly over the pastry base. Add 90 g Raspberries and lightly crush them. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together 75 g Butter and 30 g Caster sugar until pale and fluffy. Whisk 2 Eggs together and gradually stir them into the butter and sugar mixture.
- Add 40 g Ground almonds and 1 teaspoon Almond essence and mix well.
- Pour the filling mixture into the pastry case and gently spread it evenly over the raspberry layer. Bake the tart on the middle shelf of the oven for 35-40 minutes, or until the surface is golden-brown.
- Allow to cool and then dust with Icing sugar. Serve with the more raspberries, Flaked almonds and a dollop of Clotted cream.
Notes
- You don't have to add the crushed raspberries on top of the jam, but that is just our little twist on this Bakewell pudding.
- We have used a full 375g pack of puff pastry in the recipe, however you won't need to use all of it as you trim some of it off. The nutritional information reflects this.
Nutritional Information
**This recipe was originally as part of a collaboration with Cottages.com**
Claudia Lamascolo
We love pies of any kind this is a new one for me I am putting this on my list for the next holiday its so elegant looking
Alice | SkinnySpatula
This turned out beautifully! I didn't have any fresh raspberries to put on top but it was still delicious.
Valerie
I haven't tried a Bakewell pudding before. I think my Mom would be delighted to find this on the table, she's all for raspberries and custard-ish filled pies.
Anjali
This pudding looks so delicious and decadent!! I hadn't actually heard of bakewell pudding before, but now I cannot wait to try this at home!
Kushigalu
This pudding is something new to me. Looks delicious too. Thanks for sharing.
Catherine
This dessert is absolutely beautiful! I've never had a Bakewell Pudding before but I'd love to try making it. Sounds like a very easy and accessible treat.
Toni
This is really good!! So excited to make it again this weekend!
Carrie Robinson
This looks like such a comforting dessert recipe! I definitely need to make this asap. :)
Beth Sachs
I LOVE bakewell tart and I'm with you on the puff pastry! No point making your own when shop bought is so good.
Wanda
I've never had a tart like this before and now I'm excited to try this recipe! It looks so good!
Jacqueline Meldrum
That looks so good. We have used cottages.com before and were really pleased with our cottage. We are booking again for october.
Alida @My Little Italian Kitchen
Looks really good Dannii! This is perfect for summer!
Mummy Ms memories
I love Bakewell tart. It was one of my cravings through pregnancy so I get the cake craving!
Helen @ Scrummy Lane
Hi Dave - nice to 'meet' you! How lovely that you've joined 'the team'!
I went to Bakewell a few weeks ago and had a Bakewell tart from the oldest pudding shop. They were actually serving Bakewell tart and Bakewell pudding as two distinct things!
I must say though that your Bakewell tart looks better than theirs! :-)
Ashley
I've never heard of this pudding before - learned something new today!! It sounds delicious! And yay for starting the nursery!
Northern Crumble
I absolutely love Bakewell, i think its the Almond flavouring that does it for me!
Good to see the Nursery is coming along well, and good luck for when he/she (although you know) arrives :)
Alison
I love bakewell desserts, this looks amazing. Good luck getting the nursery sorted out
Kari @ bite-sized thoughts
I love bakewell desserts and this looks delicious :) Good luck with the rest of the nursery decorating too.
Nicole @ Foodie Loves Fitness
I've never had Bakewell pudding before, but I love the sound of the raspberries & jam in it.
Hope that you guys are having fun preparing for the baby! :)
nadia
Ooo this looks super indulgent and delicious! Love bakewell tarts. It's nice to see you've gone with gender neutral colours for the nursery. I imagine I would want to do the same when we have kids. That potato cake actually sounds good! If there's a sweet potato pie I don't see why there shouldn't be a potato cake! :D