Mini Manchester Tarts

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!



This recipe is for Mini Manchester Tarts. A Manchester Tart is a play on the Manchester Pudding. It consists of a shortcrust pastry shell filled with raspberry jam, dessicated coconut, cream and custard. With my little tips and cheats, these tarts will look like they took forever to make but really, they didn't!

A Simple List of Ingredients:

1. Ready Made Shortcrust Pastry
2. Raspberry Jam
3. Dessicated Coconut
4. Ready Made Custard
5. Double Cream
6. Icing Sugar
7. Glace Cherries, to decorate

Bismillah, let's bake!

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 5.

Place one block of shortcrust pastry on to a floured surface. This was a frozen pastry which I had defrosted.

Roll the pastry out to about 1/4 inch thick.

Cut the pastry into rounds and fill tart tins. I made mini ones but you could do a big one too with this same recipe - just place the pastry into a large tart tin.

Prick the pastry all over with a fork.

Bake in the preheated oven at Gas Mark 5 for 15 minutes until golden brown and crisp. For the smaller ones, I used a muffin tin.
Allow the pastry shells to cool completely. 

Next, whip a medium carton of double cream until it has soft peaks.

Then, take a tin of custard.

And, pour it into the cream.

Whip together until the mixture is just combined.

Now, to assemble the tarts, take:

the cooled pastry shells

the custard and cream mixture
a few tablespoons of raspberry jam (warm it in the microwave for a few seconds)
handful of dessicated coconut
a few glace cherries

Into each shell, spread a layer of raspberry jam.

Sprinkle on a layer of the coconut.

Then, a layer of the cream and custard mixture.

Continue this with all the tarts ..

... until they are all filled!

Sprinkle on some toasted coconut.

This is made by putting some dessicated coconut onto an oven tray ..

.. and putting it in a hot oven for a few minutes until golden brown. Keep your eye on it though - it can burn quite quickly!

Decorate the tarts with the glace cherries.

Dust with icing sugar!

Serve immediately or keep them cool in the fridge until needed!

Some recipes put a layer of banana slices with the raspberry jam. You could try that too!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy these Manchester Tarts as much as we did!

Wasalaam!

Mini Manchester Tarts
Adapted from BBC Food

Ingredients

·     1 block of Shortcrust Pastry

·     Medium carton of Double Cream

·     1 tin of Ready Made Custard

·     Few tablespoons of Raspberry Jam

·     Few handfuls of Dessicated Coconut

·     Few Glace Cherries, to decorate

·     Icing Sugar, to decorate

Method

1.  Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 5.

2.  Roll the pastry to ¼ inch thickness on a floured surface. Cut out rounds and fill some mini tart tins or you could do one big tart.

3.  Prick the pastry all over with a fork, and bake for 15 minutes until golden brown and crisp. Allow to cool completely.

4.  Whisk the double cream until soft peaks appear. Add the custard and mix together.

5.  Heat the raspberry jam in the microwave until it is runny.

6.  To assemble the tarts, place a layer of jam, then coconut, then cream and custard mixture.

7.  Top with some toasted coconut, glace cherries and a dusting of icing sugar. Serve!