The Great British Bake Off returned to our screens this week and we could not be more excited! Not only does it feature the legendary Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry duo and showcase some fabulous baking talent, we also admire the huge risks the bakers take to set themselves apart from the rest. Tomato upside down cake anyone?

In the spirit of creativity, we’ve decided to share with you our take on a British classic – coconut Bakewell pudding (ALWAYS pudding, never tart  – we have to keep on reminding ourselves!) with a lovely Damson plum jam filling. Apart from the fact that we love coconut and it’s pretty hard for us not to chuck a whole lot of it into everything we produce, we find it goes incredibly well with the ground almond filling. And though it’s traditional to use tart raspberry jam, this time we opted for a sweeter depth of flavour with the plum jam. You can use pretty much any jam or spread (Nutella would be glorious!) so do experiment!

As a lot of bakers know, the most anxious bit of baking can be right after you take it out of the oven, it’s cooled and you start praying “Please God don’t let it stick to the pan please please please please” over and over again. Luckily, apart from those stressful moments, this Bakewell pudding with a Dan Lepard-inspired shortcrust is super easy to make:

Sweet shortcrust pastry

200g plain flour
40g icing sugar
a pinch of salt
115g unsalted butter, cold
2 egg yolks
cold water

Filling

100g (or enough to cover the bottom of the pudding) Damson plum jam
150g unsalted butter, softened
150g golden caster sugar
3 eggs + 1 egg yolk
75g unsweetened dessicated coconut
75g ground almonds
1/2 tsp almond essence
a handful of toasted, flaked almonds, to decorate

1. Combine the flour, icing sugar and salt in a large bowl. Cut the butter into cubes and rub into the flour mixture  until completely combined.
2. Mix in the egg yolks and then add the water – first a tablespoon and more if necessary to produce a smooth dough.
3. Flatten slightly and place the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes.
4. Grease and line a 23-inch tart tin with baking paper. Preheat the oven to 160 C (fan-assisted) or 180 C (non-fan-assisted).
5. After 30 minutes, you have a choice – you can a) roll out the dough on a floured surface using a rolling pin and then transfer to the tin or b) press the dough into the tin (which is the method we chose!).
6. Fill the tart tin with baking beans and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the beans, turn the oven temperature down 10 degrees or so and bake for 5 minutes.
7. Leave to cool for 15 minutes.
8. Spread the jam evenly on the base of the pudding. Be careful not to add too much as you don’t want it bubbling up and leaking all over your oven! (Experience.)
9. Mix the butter and sugar together. Then add the eggs + egg yolk one by one, then the coconut, then the ground almonds and lastly the almond essence.
10. Spoon the mixture into the tart tin and using a palette knife, spread evenly. Decorate with toasted almonds.
11. Bake for 50 minutes or until it is set and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out nearly clean.
12. Eat immediately or keep in the fridge in an airtight container for 2 days.

So what do you think? Feel free to share your questions and comments below! We’d love to hear what you have to say.