Daring Bakers' June Challenge - Bakewell Tarts

I can't take credit for this month.. as ya'll know, I was pretty busy being poked, prodded and injected with radioactive materials and was afraid I'd run out of time again to finish my challenge. So my Hubbs, bless him, offered to step in and become an "unofficial" Daring Baker for the month! You just have to love him. ;) As always.. business first! The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England. Hubbs said it was pretty easy and he had no problems, other than not being able to find the almond meal (that I had left on the counter for him that morning) in the freezer. hee! Neither of us were exactly excited about this dessert from the get-go. Aside from cherry, almond flavoring is my least favorite. He's not a fan either. But we never figured we'd be keeping this in the house anyway, so that wasn't a big deal. Unfortunately, after we each took a bite from the slice I had photographed, we were sadly disappointed. The almond flavor was too overpowering for us (we even left out almond extract and used vanilla). We both liked the shortcrust but it wasn't cooked the whole way through. After re-reading the recipe together, to make sure he didn't underbake the tart, we realized that there was just too much filling and that the crust should have been blind baked before adding the red raspberry preserves and the Frangipane. That slice was pitched and the rest was taken to work the next day. There must not be any almond lovers in the group, as only one small slice was taken. The rest of the tart was pitched at the end of the week. :( My only thoughts on this challenge was that if you are not an almond lover, you won't like this dessert, obviously. Again, we liked the crust and the idea of the jam layered under the Frangipane, so the next time I feel like making a tart, I think I'll use that shortcrust recipe, blind bake it, then freeze it and layer on preserves under maybe chocolate mousse or lemon curd... You can find the recipe on both Anne-Marie's and Jasmine's blogs or on The Daring Kitchen website. Please hit the "still temporary" Daring Bakers' blogroll to see how creative our members are! You'll be amazed! :) xoxo