Orange and Apricot "Bakewell" Tart

This isn't your classic Bakewell Tart. I have made some additions and substitutions but the cooking method and essence of the classic is still there. I added orange zest and juice to the cake mixture for a more holiday feel. Then instead of the raspberry jam, I used apricot jam to for the base of the tart. In all this is a far more subtle tart than the classic but with sophisticated flavours. Team this with a mug of English breakfast tea for a match made in heaven.

Ingredients
1/2 cup cold Butter, cut into cubes
1/2 cup softened Butter
1 cup plain Flour
1 cup ground Almonds
1 Orange, zest and juice
1/4 cup Suet
3/4 cup of Sugar (I used a combination of dark demerara and natural)
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
1 tsp Xanthan Gum
4 Eggs
3 tbsp Apricot Jam
1/4 cup of flaked almonds to garnish
1/2 tsp of icing sugar to garnish (optional)
1 tbsp Cointreau (optional)
Cold Water

Recipe
Make the shortcrust pastry first by adding the cold butter to the flour with the suet and a tablespoon of sugar for sweetness. Using your hands, press the butter into the flour mixture and rub to form clumps the size and texture of soft breadcrumbs. Slowly add a bit of cold water and using a knife bring mix together until it forms a crumbly dough. Don't worry if it's too crumbly to roll out, put the ball of dough onto a piece of clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes in the fridge or 10-15 minutes in the freezer.

Pre-heat the oven while you are waiting for the dough to 180 degrees. When the dough is ready, dust a clean table liberally with flour. Roll your dough to 0.5cm thickness and line your baking tin. Poke the bottom with a fork so that no air bubbles form and then line with greaseproof paper before pouring in baking beans. Blind bake for 15 minutes. Remove the beans and let the pastry cool.

To make the filling, cream the softened butter with the rest of the sugar and add orange zest. I like adding the zest at this point as it brings out more of the orange flavour. Once it's light and fluffy, add the eggs ground almonds, baking power, bicarb, xanthan gum, orange juice and Cointreau (if using) and combine well. I used the xanthan gum as I didn't add flour to my cake mixture, so the gum will improve the overall crumb due to the lack of gluten.

Using a tablespoon, spread the apricot jam over the base of the pastry. Then pour in your cake mixture. Bake in the oven for 12 minutes and then top with the flaked almonds. Bake for a further 12 minutes until the top of the cake is a golden brown and the almonds have lightly roasted. Leave to cool on a rack and sprinkle with icing sugar. I enjoyed this cake warm with Brandy butter and a large mug of tea.