I wanted to try a different version of an old favourite combining different elements of several cakes that are sumptuous and decadent: the frangipance of bakewell tarts, the richness of the currant mix in mince pies and the melted marzipan inside a Simnel cake. With those in mind, I've created my own Christmas Bakewell Tarts.

Ingredients:

• Shortcrust pastry:
  • 125g/4oz plain flour
  • pinch of salt
  • 55g/2oz butter, cubed
  • 30-45ml/2-3 tbsp cold water
  • 2oz ground almonds
  • 1oz caster sugar

• Frangipane filling:
  • 125g butter
  • 125g caster sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 125g ground almonds
  • 1 tsp of Nielsen Massey almond extract
  • 1tbsp plain flour

• currants, raisins and cherries roughly chopped in a food processor for thirty seconds (I'm using this instead of mincemeat as The Boy doesn't like that)
• marzipan

1. Make the shortcrust pastry in the traditional way (rub butter, flour, salt, sugar and almonds together, then add a few drops of water at a time until it binds together).
2. Cut out circles and place them into a small muffin tin. Trim off the excess pastry and put a layer of baking beads over the base and cook for 8 minutes at 180°C.
3. While this is blind-baking in the oven, make the frangipane mix.
4. Cream the sugar and butter, add the eggs, mix in the flour and ground almonds, with a teaspoon of almond essence. Mix thoroughly.
5. Once the tart cases have cooked, remove the baking beads carefully (they're hot!) and place a small circle of marzipan in each one.
6. Place a teaspoon of currant mix on top, and then put a spoonful of frangipane mix on the top of each tart case.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 180°C until a skewer/knife comes out clean.
8. Sift icing sugar over the top.

For a change I thought I'd video this cooking session. Mainly because cooking with a three year old is fun and I wanted to share that.

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