ON PUDDINGS AND TARTS.

Today is my husband John's birthday (Happy Birthday, sweetheart!). So I've decided that this afternoon, I'm going to make him a Bakewell pudding or tart (I've yet to determine if there's actually any real difference between the two, or if some people simply call them puddings, while others call them tarts).

Anyway, this is a sweet that, according to legend, originated quite by accident around 1860, at the White Horse inn, in the market town of Bakewell, Derbyshire (some insist the pudding's been around since the Middle Ages, and that it was the tart that came about by accident in the nineteenth century). John, who's an Englishman, lived in Derbyshire most of his life, and he adores Bakewell tarts (as he calls them).

Unfortunately, the first one I ever made was an unmitigated disaster!

The last time I was in England, I bought a marvelous British cookbook, Traditional British Cooking (consultant editor Hilaire Walden), which gives both British and American measurements, as well as oven temperatures not only for Agas, but also for traditional British cookers and American stoves. The only problem is that the slash marks that separate all these look very much like italicized number ones, and on a couple of lines, that was the way I inadvertently misread them. So I wound up with way too much of some ingredients.

As a result, my poor tart went haywire. John, however, being the darling he is, bravely ate it, while trying to figure out exactly what I'd done wrong.

Since then, I've made a couple more attempts to bake this tart. The last one was nearly right---except that even though I'd set my oven for the correct temperature and time, it was still too hot, resulting in a rather burned crust and an underdone filling.

I finally consulted John's daughter, Chrissy, who makes scrumptious Bakewell tarts, and she gave me a list of instructions that I hope are going to cover all contingencies. *g*

So, wish me luck. I'm off now to don my apron and to embark upon my quest for the perfect Bakewell tart.