Manchester Tart

To make the pastry, add the flour, butter, icing sugar and salt to a food processor (no food processor? no problem, simply get your hands messy and use your fingers to combine the mixture). Pulse until you have a mixture that looks like fine breadcrumbs. Add in the egg yolks and pulse again briefly until the dough begins to clump. If it looks quite dry add in a tablespoon of ice water.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and use your hands to bring it together. Pat it into a thick disc and wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 1-2 hours or until firm.

Once chilled, roll the pastry out onto a floured surface a few centimetres larger than your 23cm fluted tin. Line the tin with the pastry, pressing it firmly into all the grooves. Trim off the excess pastry and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 190c/170c fan.

Remove the tin from the fridge, prick the base with a fork a line it with greaseproof paper. Fill the lined case with baking beans or rice and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the beans and greaseproof paper and place the tart back in the oven baking for another 15-20 minutes until the edges are golden. Set aside to cool completely.

To make the custard add the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour into a large bowl and whisk until smooth.

In a saucepan, heat the milk, cream and vanilla bean paste until just before the boil. Pour a quarter of the hot milk onto the egg mixture, while whisking at the same time. Continue to pour in the milk in small batches whilst continuing to stir.

Once all the milk has been added, pour everything back into the saucepan and heat gently. Heat for 3-4 minutes until the custard starts to thicken. Keep whisking as it thickens to avoid any large lumps. Once the custard comes to the boil and is really thick, remove it from the heat and pour it into a clean bowl. Cover with cling film and let it cool to room temperature before chilling in the fridge for 1 hour.

Add the desiccated coconut to a dry pan and toast the coconut for 1-2 minutes until it starts to brown. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

When you’re ready to assemble give the custard a good whisk to remove any lumps. Spoon the jam into the pastry case, and top with the custard, spreading it out evenly. Let the tart chill in the fridge for 4 hours or overnight. Top with the toasted coconut before serving.