Lemon & Almond Bakewell Tarts Recipe

A crisp and buttery pastry crust filled with gooey almond and lemon frangipane, lemon curd toasted flaked almonds

These simple looking tarts don't have any fancy decoration, but they make up for their plainness by tasting amazing! Lemon Bakewell tarts are a delicious alternative to traditional cherry Bakewell tarts. The have the same 'buttery' and crisp pastry crust, but this time are filled with layers of vegan lemon curd and a lemon and almond frangipane. The zesty lemon works so well with the sweet almond filling and gives you the perfect flavourful bite!

This recipe makes four 4" tarts or you could make more mini cupcake sized Bakewells or one large tart. They are best eaten within four days while they are freshest or you can freeze them for longer. They are equally yummy cold or slightly warmed!

Makes 4 small tarts

Pastry ingredients;

180g plain flour

25g granulated or caster sugar

100g vegan block butter

Zest of 1 lemon - optional

1-2 tbs cold water

Frangipane ingredients;

70g plain flour

90g ground almonds

60g granulated or caster sugar

6g baking powder

30g sunflower oil

1 tsp almond extract

110g boiling water

Zest and juice of 1 large lemon

You will also need;

4 tbs vegan lemon curd - find my recipe below

4 tbs flaked almonds for topping

1 tbs icing sugar for dusting and/or lemon zest

You will also need; a mixing bowl, spoon, whisk, rolling pin, 4x small tart tins, small sieve, knife, clingfilm

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Method

1. Pre heat the oven to 180°c

2. Begin by making your pastry. In your large mixing bowl add the flour, sugar, vegan butter and lemon zest (if using)

3. Use your fingers to crumble the butter into the dry ingredients to make a fine breadcrumb texture

4. Add 1 tbs of cold water and use your fingers again to mix it through the pastry dough

5. Begin to bring the pastry together by gently squashing the dough into a ball

6. The dough should feel soft and pliable. If the dough is too dry and crumbly, add another tbs of cold water and bring it together again

7. Try not to overwork the dough as this will make the pastry taste tough

8. This pastry is quite soft, so wrap it in clingfilm and rest in the fridge while you make your frangipane filling.

9. Make your frangipane. Wipe out your pastry mixing bowl and add all the dry ingredients, flour, baking powder, sugar, ground almonds, lemon zest and whisk together

10. Add the almond extract, lemon juice, oil and boiling water and whisk thoroughly until there are no lumps. Set aside and line your tart tins with pastry

11. Flour your worktop and rolling pin so that the dough does not stick

12. Spilt your dough roughly into four even balls, then roll out your first ball of pastry dough to around 3-5mm thick until it makes a circle a little larger than the tart tin

13. Carefully press the pastry into the tin. If it rips, don't worry, just press the pastry back together. Use your rolling pin to roll over the top of the tin to cut off the excess pastry

14. Repeat rolling out each ball of pastry dough and lining the tins until your have four pastry lined tart tins

15. Place a generous tbs of lemon curd into the bottom of each tart and use the back of the spoon to spread it out over the bottom of the pastry

16. Use a spoon or ice cream scoop to cover the jam with a thick layer of the almond frangipane and roughly spread it out until it is covering the jam

17. Add a sprinkle of flaked almonds to the top of each tart and now they are ready to bake

18. Bake for around 20 minutes until they are golden brown on top and a cocktail stick comes cleanly out of the frangipane. The pastry underneath should be lightly golden and crisp - you don't want a soggy bottom!

19. Leave the tarts in the tins until they are fully cooled as the pastry will be very delicate while it is hot

20. Carefully remove the cooled tarts from the tins and use a small sieve to dust them with a little icing sugar or some extra lemon zest

21. Now they are ready to eat and enjoy!

Tips & Tricks!

• This recipe needs a block style vegan butter as a spreadable butter will make the dough too wet. I used Flora unsalted block butter.

• This is my easy vegan lemon curd recipe; The Easiest Vegan Lemon Curd Recipe

• You could swap the lemon in this recipe for orange or lime to make different flavour Bakewell tarts

• My small tart tins were from a charity shop, but these are similar; https://amzn.to/4a0Ght1