History
The Manchester tart descends from the original Manchester pudding, first recorded by Victorian cookery writer Mrs Beeton in 1861 as a baked custard tart with breadcrumbs. The 20th-century version dropped the breadcrumbs, added a layer of raspberry jam and finished with desiccated coconut, surviving as a school-dinner staple and now a Manchester pub dessert menu fixture.
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Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy, Egg
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 250g shortcrust pastry
- 300ml whole milk
- 300ml double cream
- 1 vanilla pod, split
- 6 egg yolks
- 100g caster sugar
- 200g raspberry jam
- 50g desiccated coconut
- 8 glace cherries
Method
- Roll the pastry to 3mm thick and line a 23cm tart tin. Blind bake at 180C for 18 minutes with parchment and beans, then 5 minutes without to dry the base.
- Warm the milk and cream with the vanilla pod scraped in. Off the heat, whisk in the yolks and sugar; pass through a sieve.
- Spread the jam over the cooled pastry base and pour the custard on top. Bake at 140C for 30-35 minutes until just set with a slight wobble.
- Cool completely, then scatter the surface generously with desiccated coconut and dot the glace cherries evenly across the top before serving.
Tip from the editors. Cool the custard fully before scattering coconut; a warm surface clumps the flakes and ruins the texture.
Where to eat manchester tart
Manchester tart in Manchester
The Edinburgh Castle ★ 4.6
Top 50 Gastropub in Ancoats, Manchester. Gabe Lea (Le Manoir, Northcote, Maya) runs the upstairs bistro; downstairs is a working pub with cask ales.
Book2 weeks ahead
Mr Thomas's Chop House ★ 4.4
Manchester's 1867 Victorian pub and chop house on Cross Street, late kitchen until 23:00 every day. Cask ales, steak and kidney pudding, tilework all around.
TrySteak and kidney pudding
More places near The Edinburgh Castle and Mr Thomas's Chop House
Not on this list, but close by, nearest first. Every one is in our guide with its address, hours and what to order.
- El Gato Negro Spanish Tapas, under 100 m away
- La Bandera Spanish, about 150 m away
- Pip British gastropub, about 300 m away
- Albert's Schloss German, about 400 m away
- Adam Reid at The French Modern British, about 450 m away
- The Washhouse Cocktail bar, about 500 m away
More cities are in research. Want manchester tart covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.