Cherry Bakewell’s are another one of those fabulous classic cake recipes, that with just the tiniest bit of jiggery pokery can be made completely gluten free!
The inspiration to rustle up these gluten free Cherry Bakewell’s came from how easy and what great results I’d had when I made gluten free frangipane mince pies at Christmas!
I’ve tested these tarts out twice now. And just to mix things up a little, on my second attempt, I scattered flaked almonds over a few of the tarts before I popped them in the oven. Once baked, and they had cooled, I piped a little glace icing over the top. Neil absolutely loved them done this way! But of course, the choice as to how you top them, is all yours.
This recipe will make 24 tarts. But when I made them, I halved the quantity of the filling to make just 12 and I used the left-over pastry to line a flan dish and made a quiche.
You will spot that on this occasion I haven’t included Xanthan gum in my list of ingredients for the pastry. This is deliberate, as despite recommending it in the past, I’m slightly shying away from using it in gf pastry at the moment as I find it can make the pastry a little hard. However, I still feel it’s a must when making gluten free scones!
Ingredients (makes 24)
Gluten free pastry
200g (7oz) gluten free plain flour or mix
100g (3½oz) butter, cubed
1 large beaten egg
Add a pinch of salt to the flour if using unsalted butter
Cold water
Filling
Raspberry jam – use a good one, it makes all the difference
200g (7oz) butter (Lurpak full fat spreadable works great)
200g (7oz) caster sugar
200g (7oz) *ground almonds
4 large beaten eggs
1 teaspoon *almond essence
Optional *flaked almonds instead of adding a cherry
Glace icing
200g (7oz) sifted icing sugar and enough boiled water to make it into a thick but spreadable paste
12 *glace cherries, halved
Method
Preheat the oven 190C/375F/Gas 5/Fan 170C
Grease the amount of muffin tins you need.
Pop the flour into a large mixing bowl and add the butter and rub it in until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs (any larger bits of butter will be blended when you work the pastry before rolling it out).
Stir in the beaten egg and then add enough water to bring the pastry together (you should need at least 5-6 dessertspoons of water). If you don’t add enough water, you will find the pastry difficult to work with. if you add a bit too much, don’t worry as you can ‘bring it back’ by adding a little extra gluten free flour.
Form the pastry into a ball and transfer onto a clean surface, that you have dusted with gluten free flour and knead for a couple of minutes until the pastry becomes smooth. By doing this the pastry will be much easier to handle.
I would suggest that you cut the pastry in half before you start to roll it out as it will be much easier to handle in smaller quantities. Keep dusting your worksurface and rolling pin with gf flour to ensure the pastry doesn’t stick.
Once you have rolled out the pastry nice and thinly, take a large round cutter (approximately 3½ inch) and cut out the pastry circles. Using a palette knife, transfer the pastry circles into the muffin tins and gently ease them into each mould.
Fill each pastry case with a level teaspoon of raspberry jam.
In a large bowl beat together the butter, sugar and almond essence – ideally using an electric mixer – until the mixture becomes light and creamy.
Gradually add the beaten egg to the mixture. Continues to whisk until the mixture is nice and smooth.
Finally add the ground almonds and mix well with a large spoon.
Grab a couple of dessertspoons and evenly distribute the frangipane mixture.
If you choose, you can sprinkle flaked almonds over some or all of the tarts before baking them.
Pop the tray into the oven and bake for approximately 20 minutes until the tarts are golden brown and firm to touch.
Once baked remove from the oven and allow to cool.
To make the icing, blend together the icing sugar with a little boiled water to make a thick but spreadable paste. It’s better to add less water in the beginning and gradually add more until you are happy with the consistency.
Using a couple of teaspoons, spoon the glace icing onto each tart and then gently smooth out with a blunt kitchen (or small pallet) knife. Pop on the cherry and there you have it!
If you decided to go with flaked almonds on top – finish instead by spooning the glace icing into a disposable piping bag (makes it so much easier if you sit the piping bag in a mug and open the bag up before you add the icing). Snip the bag at the end – just giving you a big enough hole to allow you to pipe the icing finely over the top tart!
Thanks for checking out this recipe…..there are lots more right here that you may like to have a look at!
For now
Liz x
P.S. If your gluten free pastry isn’t behaving you may like to check out my really quick pastry making video here!
*Check this product out to ensure no gluten containing ingredients or ‘may contain’ or ‘not suitable’ warnings on the pack. If in doubt leave it out!
I have included affiliated links within this post. Should you click on the link, and then decide to buy the product it won’t cost you a penny more, but I will receive a small amount of commission, which will help towards the running costs of my website. I will only ever recommend products to you that I love, want or think you may find jolly useful! Thanks. Liz
