Be Like Big'uns
The Bakewell Tart of Metaphysical Cats
Big’uns is our 14-year-old rescue kitty. We gave her a home when she was 8 because the original person she owned un-alived themselves. Sad, I know. Imagine what Big’uns saw. Add to it that the family of that person was understandably in a tailspin, and they brought Big’uns to a vet, asking for euthanization. Double grief.
A kind vet tech at the facility said she’d foster Big’uns, and that she did. So happens that she was friend of a friend of ours who had moved to Boston. By the magik of the intrawebs, he posted that his vet-tech friend had a cat who needed a home. Mind you, both we and the vet tech lived in Bryan-College Station, TX at the time, so the message of Big’uns need rang out from the Lone Start State, bounced off a friend in Boston, and ricocheted back to us in College Station.
You might expect that Big’uns suffered from feline PTSD. Nope. If anything, PTSD suffers from her. She is the most laid-back, chill, I’m-alright-don’t-nobody-worry-’bout-me creature in the cosmos. She’s also bigger than a houseboat. Thankfully, she doesn’t snuggle in laps (‘cuz I might go paralyzed), but she absolutely consumes the jowl-rubs, scritches, and back massages. She’ll literally let you do it for hours and not tire.
I’ve painted Big’uns in oils, as you see right here.
I’ve also done a digital-art painting of what I think her soul feels like.
Why did the artistic revelation paint her soul in this fashion? Well, art isn’t about whys and hows. It’s about being open—listening, feeling, letting it happen through my faulty limbs, nerves, whimsy, and vision. Now, I don’t know if the above work is any o’ those, but like any of us, Big’uns is a unique way that Sister Cosmos lives and sees herself through our eyes—human, feline, and even the eyes of things that don’t have what we’d call eyes.
Like a Bakewell Tart.
We’ve spent too much of our ourselves over the last decade not just blinding our own vision, but daring to deny it to people, creatures, and things because, um, we say so. Big’uns is like a Bakewell Tart. She doesn’t “say so” about anything, except to be admired and enjoyed as she is.
Pause for a wee bit today, and let yourself enjoy yourself. You can do this anywhere … because anywhere you are, a la Yogi Berra, there you are.
Big’uns and a tasty Bakewell Tart are two gifts of Sister Cosmos who remind me I’m here. And I’m loving it. And you. G’night!
Bakewell Tart
Prep Time: 1.5hr Cook Time: 45min Total Time: 2.25hr Difficulty: Medium Servings: 8-10 slices
EQUIPMENT
Sifter
Lg mixing bowl
Scotch blade or knife, for cutting butter
Pouring cup
Clingfilm or silicon storage bag
Cooking spray, for greasing
9in (23cm) dia loose-bottom tart tin
Rolling pin
Parchment paper (optional)
Baking beans (optional)
Med saucepan
Potato masher
Whisk
Sm bowl
Wooden spoon
Silicone spatula
SHORTCRUST PASTRY INGREDIENTS
1 7⁄8C (225g) plain flour, plus extra for dusting (stored in freezer the night before)
1⁄8C + 1T (35g) granulated (caster) sugar (again, store this in freezer overnight)
1⁄2t (2g) salt
1⁄2C/1 stick (100g) cold unsalted butter, grated or diced into small cubes
1⁄2t lemon juice
2T/ 1⁄8C (30ml) vodka
1t vanilla extract
2T/ 1⁄8C (30ml) ice water
FRANGIPANE INGREDIENTS
100g butter, softened
75g caster sugar
40g plain flour
2 large eggs, beaten
60g ground almonds
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 drop almond extract (optional)
REST OF FILLING INGREDIENTS
3-4oz (about100g) raspberry jam
3.5oz (100g) raspberries, fresh or frozen
20g almonds, shaved/flaked
Powdered (confectioner's) sugar, for dusting
DIRECTIONS
1. To make pastry, I use my own Shortcrust Pastry recipe, or you can use your own recipe or a store-bought.
2. Preheat oven to 360°F/180°C (375°F/190°C, High Altitude). Grease tart tin, and set aside.
3a. Roll shortcrust on lightly floured workspace to 1⁄8in (3mm) thickness and use to line tart tin.
3b. Trim away excess so crust is flush with tart-tin edge (Note: If you plan to blind bake tart shell, leave some excess overhanging tart-tin edge.) If not blind-baking, skip to Step 5.
4. [Optional] Blind-bake tart shell.
Frangipane
5. Follow my Frangipane recipe or your own to make frangipane (or use store-bought). Set aside.
Raspberry Jam
6. Follow my Homemade Raspberry Jam recipe or your own to make jam filling (or use store-bought jam). Set aside.
Assembly
7a. Spread raspberry jam over tart shell.
7b. Sprinkle raspberries over spreader jam.
7c. Evenly spread frangipane over raspberries.
Bake
8. Bake 10 min.
8b. Remove from oven and sprinkle flaked almonds on surface.
8c. Return tart to oven and bake additional 15-20 min, till filling turns golden.
9. Leave to cool in the tin before dusting with powdered sugar and serving.
Big'uns in painting form watches me everyday at work from her spot on the wall!