Manchester tart‘s popularity can be explained in part by childhood nostalgia – until a few decades ago, it was part of school lunches in the city. Layers of raspberry jam, custard and flakes of coconut fill a shortcrust pastry shell that's topped with a maraschino cherry and white icing. One of the best places to buy one is at Robinson’s Artisan Family Bakery near Manchester City’s football ground – it’s the oldest bakery in Manchester, having opened in 1864.
Confusingly, it’s similar though not identical to Manchester pudding. That is an endangered dish which predates the tarts that a 19th-century cook called Mrs Beeton featured in her famous cookbook. This baked treat has a plain or puff-pastry base covered with jam and a lemon-flavoured custard thickened with breadcrumbs.
