Congress tarts

I was driven half insane by the smell of these cooking. They contain practically all the things I would pick for my “last supper” namely coconut, almond, vanilla, pastry and jam. If I could have snuck custard in there somehow I would die happy! The Caked Crusader’s Ma (CCM) had a great idea – she thought that they would be lovely warmed for a dessert and served with custard. The CCM then got rather excited at the thought of one large congress tart and had to calm herself down!


Here’s the inside view:


Google has let me down as I was trying to find out how they got their name and all I could find were lots of lame jokes about American politics...I’m sure you get the drift. So if anyone knows, I am genuinely interested to learn how they acquired the name.

This could be one of those “oh, just me then” moments, but don’t you love it when you open a box of eggs and find a feather attached to one of the eggs?


I think it’s important to point out two things about these little beauties. Firstly, they are quite sweet – don’t get me wrong – not in a bad way. If you like a bakewell tart then you’ll be fine with these. Secondly, when I make them again I will put a smidgen more jam in the base. I was careful this time as I didn’t want jam bubbling up the sides of the tart but I think they could take a little more! Here’s how much jam I put in:


These are all a coconut lover could want – juicier than a macaroon, more flavoursome than coconut ice, more substantial than a Bounty bar. In other words: heaven!

Unusually for me, I used the pastry recipe rather than my trusty shortcrust. What intrigued me was the use of the whole egg, not just the yolk and the inclusion of vanilla. It’s a nice pastry – quite biscuity in some ways and a dream to roll out.


The raw filling isn’t the most attractive you’ll ever see; it looks a bit like porridge:


The tarts start to get more appealing by the time they are assembled and ready for the oven:


And by the time they come out of the oven they are practically Miss World’s of the cake kingdom!


Ingredients:
For the pastry:
200g plain flour
Pinch of salt
70g unsalted butter
80g caster sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the tart filling:
250g caster sugar
150g ground almonds
1.5 tablespoons of rice flour or semolina
Pinch of ground cinnamon
3 egg whites
70g desiccated coconut
Raspberry jam (I used a seedless variety)

How to make:

- First make the pastry. Rub the butter into the flour and salt until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
- Stir in the sugar then make a well in the centre for the egg and vanilla.
- Using a knife, bring the mixture together. Mine came together beautifully, but if the pastry looks too crumbly sprinkle some water on to it. Not too much – just enough to bring together.
- Shape the dough into a ball and sit it on a sheet of clingfilm. Flatten slightly into a disc then wrap up and chill for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan oven 180°C/400°F/Gas mark 6.
- Grease two 12 hole patty tins. This recipe will make 18 tarts.
- Roll the pastry out between two sheets of baking paper and using a round cutter slightly bigger than the patty hole, cut out circles of pastry. You’re aiming for the pastry to be thin but not see-through. About 4mm thick.
- Once all the pastry cases are cut out and sitting in the patty tins, put the tins in the fridge for about 10 minutes. This will limit shrinkage on cooking.
- Now make the tart filling. In a bowl whisk the egg whites until they are frothy but still liquid.
- In a separate bowl mix the sugar, ground almonds, rice flour or semolina, and cinnamon.
- Fold the dry ingredients into the egg whites then add 50g only of the desiccated coconut.
- Remove the patty tins from the fridge and spoon a little jam into the base of each. Don’t spread it out – leave it as a little mound in the centre . This will stop the jam from seeping out. (Note my photo above of the jam – next time, I will use more than this)
- Spoon the coconut filling on top, evenly across how ever many tarts you have.
- Sprinkle the remaining 20g of coconut on top.
- Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until golden brown and firm to the touch. The skewer test won’t work. Mine took 25 minutes.
- Allow to cool before removing from tin.
- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.
- Eat.