01/07/2026
Bakewell tart, my way.
There’s a tiny Derbyshire town called Bakewell where a cook once misread a recipe, poured the jam into the pastry instead of on top, and accidentally created one of Britain’s most iconic puddings.
I live just down the road from Bakewell, so this tart is basically a neighbour. I’ve tasted more versions than I can count: crisp shortcrust shells, thick layers of raspberry jam, generous almond frangipane and flaked almonds baked until golden.
But for my Stray Cat Bakery version, I wanted the base to feel a little more refined. Traditional Bakewell tarts usually use a shortcrust pastry, sturdy, crisp and simple. Sablé pastry, in contrast, is richer and more sandy, with egg yolks and a higher butter content that give a super crumbly, melt in the mouth texture.
So I swapped the classic shortcrust for a sablé base. It stays crisp but breaks under the fork in the softest way, and the buttery crumbs mix with the sharp raspberry jam and almond cream in every bite. It’s the same Bakewell layers, pastry, jam, frangipane and flaked almonds, but with a more sophisticated, French inspired foundation.
Swipe through the carousel to see how I build it: sablé pastry, raspberry jam cooked the old fashioned way, almond frangipane and a rain of flaked almonds before it goes back in the oven. Then come and taste a slice of Derbyshire history, reimagined at Stray Cat Bakery.
Tell me in the comments if you are Team Classic Bakewell or if you would try the sablé version first.
