Manchester tart

Custard filled tart

Manchester tart
Manchester tart
Type	Tart
Place of origin	Britain
Region or state	Manchester
Created by	Mrs Beeton
Main ingredients	Shortcrust pastry, raspberry jam, custard, flaked coconut, Maraschino cherry
Variations	lemon-flavoured custard

The Manchester tart is a traditional English baked tart consisting of a shortcrust pastry shell spread with raspberry jam, covered with a custard filling and topped with flakes of coconut and a Maraschino cherry. A common variation has a layer of thinly-sliced bananas under the custard.^[1] This is unacceptable to the purist, as bananas were not available in England when the tart was first made.^{[citation needed]}

Robinson's Bakers of Failsworth advertises itself as the home of the Manchester tart.^[2]

History

The recipe for the Manchester Tart was first published in 'The Book of Household Management' by Mrs Beeton under the name 'Manchester Pudding'.^[3] The recipe consisted of puff pastry with a layer of jam and custard poured on top, topped with a sprinkling of sugar.^[4]

During the 1970s and 1980s, Manchester Tarts were regularly served in school dinners,^[5] often alongside hot custard.^[3] The tarts usually contained coconut and a cherry, and sometimes also a layer of chopped banana between the custard and the jam.^[6]

References

^ "Regional Dishes of North-West England – Virtual Encyclopaedia of Greater Manchester". Manchester2002-uk.com. Archived from the original on 5 January 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^ "Robinsons - Manchester's oldest bakery". Archived from the original on 31 December 2019. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
^ ^a ^b Grimsditch, Lee (28 August 2023). "The delicious sweet and savoury delicacies and treats Mancs will remember from their childhoods". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
^ Beeton, Isabelle (1861). The Book of Household Management. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
^ O'Sullivan, Eve (8 March 2014). "The tart-maker who bakes with mother". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
^ "Childhood school dinner treat loved by Mancunians... but with a controversial ingredient". Manchester Evening News. 6 June 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2024.