First up, sift the flour into a bowl and mix in the caster sugar. Pop in the cubed butter and rub into the flour until well blended and the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
Pop in the egg yolk and mix in. Bring the pastry together with your hands, pressing the ingredients together to make a ball, add a 1-2 tbsp of cold water if your mixture is too crumbly this will help it come together. Pop your pastry onto a lightly floured work surface and gently knead to bring together, try not to handle the pastry too much!
Wrap your pastry in cling film and pop into the fridge and allow your pastry to chill and rest for 30 minutes. 10 minutes before your pastry has finished chilling, preheat your oven to 200°C/180°C /Gas Mark 6.
Thinly roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface and pop into an 8” round, loose base tart tin. Trim off the excess pastry around the edges of the tin. Line your pastry case with greaseproof paper and fill with baking beans (or use dried beans or rice). Bake blind for 20 minutes. Remove the beans and paper and bake the pastry for a further 5 minutes to allow your pastry to turn a lovely golden brown.
Whilst your pastry is baking, it is time to make the filling. Pop the butter in a mixing bowl with the caster sugar. Whisk together until creamy and light in texture and colour.
Gradually beat in the eggs and Almond Extract until combined. Add the ground almonds and using a large metal spoon carefully fold into the mixture.
Once your pastry has baked, lower the oven temperature to 180˚C/160˚C fan/gas mark 4. Spread the jam over the base of the pastry case and spoon the filling over the top – if you pipe your filling on top it will make this step easier. Sprinkle over the flaked almonds and bake for 35-40 minutes until risen, golden brown and just firm to the touch. Leave to cool completely in the tin before carefully removing and placing on a board.
Sift the icing sugar into a bowl and add the water and Vanilla Extract. Mix together to make a fairly thick icing.
Using a spoon drizzle the icing over the top of your cooled bakewell tart. Leave the set for a few minutes and your bakewell tart is ready to slice up and enjoy!
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