Baking & Afternoon Tea · Manchester

Manchester Tart

Name: Manchester Tart
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 1 h 5 min
Yield: Serves 8
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: Shortcrust: 200g plain flour, 100g cold butter, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 egg yolk, cold water; 5 tbsp raspberry jam; 1 sliced banana (optional, controversial); Custard: 400ml milk, 3 yolks, 50g sugar, 2 tbsp custard powder, 1 tsp vanilla; 50g desiccated coconut; maraschino cherries

Jam, custard, coconut and a cherry in crisp pastry — the school-dinner tart that Mancunians defend with the same passion as their football clubs.

Prep: 30 min
Cook: 35 min
Total: 65 min
Yield: Serves 8
Difficulty: Moderate
Era: School-dinner legend

Ingredients

Shortcrust: 200g plain flour, 100g cold butter, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 egg yolk, cold water
5 tbsp raspberry jam; 1 sliced banana (optional, controversial)
Custard: 400ml milk, 3 yolks, 50g sugar, 2 tbsp custard powder, 1 tsp vanilla
50g desiccated coconut; maraschino cherries

Method

Oven190°C375°FFan 170°CGas 5

Line a 23cm tart tin with pastry; chill, then blind-bake at 190°C / 375°F for 15 minutes. Cool.
Spread the jam over the base (and banana, if you’re that sort of traditionalist).
Make a thick custard: whisk the yolks, sugar and custard powder with the warm milk and vanilla until very thick.
Pour over the jam and chill until set.
Shower with coconut, dot with cherries, and serve in wedges.

Oven temperatures are given in Celsius, Fahrenheit, fan and gas mark throughout. Quantities are metric, as cooked and written in the UK.