Bakewell Bad Boy
About this build
Shortcrust pastry, raspberry jam, almond sponge and icing become a giant Bakewell slice, baked in two roasting trays and assembled in stages.
Archive summary updated
Read the original account and photographs ↓
Notes from the contributor
Selected passages from the original account. Quantities may describe shopping, tests or the final build; follow the linked passage for its full context.
We nipped out nice and early to spend a thrifty £9.96 on the required ingredients: £1.49 on cocoa, £1.11 on jam, £1.62 on eggs, 82p on self raising flour, 76p on caster sugar, £2.12 on butter, £1.16 on icing sugar, 32p on almond essence and finally, 56p on plain flour. For clarification, the almond flakes pictured were a contingency purchase, and were not used in any part of this pimp.
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700g butter, 700g caster sugar, 12 medium eggs, 4 teaspoons almond essence and 700g self raising flour was whisked up to make the sponge mixture. We put half the mixture into each baking tray (coated again with greaseproof paper) and baked off at 180 degrees centigrade for 45 minutes. We then took them out, left to cool, popped on top of the bases and cut to size.
Read in context →
Pimp size 52cm length, 12cm height and 22cm wide.
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Bakewell Bad Boy: the archived recipe
Condensed from the original account by Jess, Jammy, Emma, Mumbles and Layfers, published 2006-10-01. The quantities and method are the contributors’; this is not a new kitchen test.
Ingredients recorded
- 220 g plain flour
- Pinch of salt
- 25g cocoa powder
- 300g raspberry jam
- 1000g icing sugar
- 800g butter
- 700g caster sugar
- 12 medium eggs
- 4 teaspoons almond essence
- 700g self raising flour
Every ingredient is measured in the account; the makers spent £9.96 and the almond flakes in their photograph were a contingency purchase that was never used. The whole took 5 hours and fed 6 people at least twice a day for a week.
Method recorded
- Mix a splash of water with 220g of plain flour, 100g of the butter and a pinch of salt to make a simple shortcrust base.
- Line two large roasting trays with greaseproof paper and splodges of butter, roll the pastry to fill the bottom of both and weigh it down with cannellini beans; bake at 160 degrees centigrade for 25 minutes.
- Take the bases out, return the beans to their packet, spread 150g of jam over each base and bake for another 10 minutes.
- Lay the two halves next to each other to form the base and leave to cool; wash the trays for the top half.
- Whisk 700g butter, 700g caster sugar, the 12 eggs, 4 teaspoons of almond essence and 700g self raising flour into a sponge mixture, put half into each re-lined tray and bake at 180 degrees centigrade for 45 minutes; cool, pop on top of the bases and cut to size.
- Mix 900g of the icing sugar with a splash of water and spread it over the top, with a cardboard surround to keep it in.
- Mix the last 100g of icing sugar with the cocoa and pipe the Mr Kipling pattern through a sandwich bag with a hole in the corner.
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The original account
“One is not a true pimper until one has pimped”.
Months of sleepless nights, haunted by the cries of the ever-so-ordinary snacks amongst us, and an aching responsibility to give something back to the pimping community from which we have taken so much can only ever lead to one thing….. a pimpfest.
The August Bank Holiday Monday was put in the diary for a day of in-your-face, unadulterated pimping. And what better a challenge than to pimp the ever-so-humble Mr Kipling’s infamous Bakewell Slice.
And so it was done. We all stood down from our daily grind in the ghetto to take on this old-England tea time favourite which grannies have been serving up since the dawn of time.
What you need:
220 g plain flour
pinch of salt
25g cocoa powder
300g raspberry jam
1000g icing sugar
800g butter
700g caster sugar
12 medium eggs
4 teaspoons almond essence
700g self raising flour
We nipped out nice and early to spend a thrifty £9.96 on the required ingredients: £1.49 on cocoa, £1.11 on jam, £1.62 on eggs, 82p on self raising flour, 76p on caster sugar, £2.12 on butter, £1.16 on icing sugar, 32p on almond essence and finally, 56p on plain flour. For clarification, the almond flakes pictured were a contingency purchase, and were not used in any part of this pimp.
Step one:
Two pimpettes mixed a splash of water with 220g of plain flour, 100g butter and a pinch of salt to make a simple pimping shortcrust base.
Step two:
As in any pimp, size is an important issue. Consequently we decided to use two large roasting trays rather than just one. Both trays were covered in greaseproof paper with splodges of butter and the pastry was rolled to fill the bottom. As shown in the photo, we used some cannelini beans to keep the pastry flat whilst in the oven. Bake at 160 degrees centigrade for 25 minutes
Step three:
Take out of the oven, put the beans back in the packet from whence they came and spread 150g of jam over each pastry base. Now put both bases back in the oven for another 10 minutes.
Step four:
The two halves were then laid next to each other to form the base and left to cool. We then washed the roasting trays ready for the top half.
Step five:
700g butter, 700g caster sugar, 12 medium eggs, 4 teaspoons almond essence and 700g self raising flour was whisked up to make the sponge mixture. We put half the mixture into each baking tray (coated again with greaseproof paper) and baked off at 180 degrees centigrade for 45 minutes. We then took them out, left to cool, popped on top of the bases and cut to size.
Step six:
A whopping 900g of icing was mixed with a splash of water and spread all over the top. A simple cardboard structure helped to keep the icing in.
Step seven:
The last 100g of icing was mixed with cocoa and piped through a sandwich bag with a hole in the corner to replicate the intricate Mr Kimpling design feature.
After 5 hours of pimping we were there! The ‘Bakewell Bad Boy of the original Kipling Krew’ stood proud next to his now very distant relative. Not only is the pimped version gigantic but also tasted fantastic and actually better than the original (in our humble and not bias-at-all opinion)..
The cake has lasted a week, feeding a healthy 6 people at least twice a day! Pimptastic…
Pimp size 52cm length, 12cm height and 22cm wide.
