Coconut tart

Ingredients

Pastry

• 400 gplain flour
• 1 tspbaking powder
• ½ tspfine salt
• 2 tbspcaster sugar
• 200 gcold butter or vegetable shortening, cubed
• 120 mliced water
• 1 tspvanilla essence

Coconut filling

• 1large dry coconut (about 400 g flesh), grated on the coarse side of a box grater
• 250 gdemerara sugar
• 200 mlwater or the coconut’s own water
• 1cinnamon stick
• ½ tspgrated nutmeg
• 2 tbspdark Antiguan rum
• 1 tspvanilla essence
• 1 tspbrowning or 1 tbsp dark molasses, for colour

To finish

• 1egg, beaten with 1 tbsp milk
• 2 tbspgranulated sugar, for dusting

Directions

1. Crack the coconut, prise the flesh from the shell with a knife, pare off the brown skin and grate it coarsely. You want short shreds, not a paste.
2. Put the coconut, sugar, water, cinnamon stick and nutmeg in a heavy pan over medium heat and simmer 20–25 minutes, stirring often, until the syrup thickens and the spoon leaves a clean trail across the pan.
3. Stir in the rum, vanilla and browning, cook 2 minutes more and spread on a tray to cool completely. Warm filling will tear the pastry.
4. Rub the butter into the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar until it looks like coarse breadcrumbs with some pea-sized flakes left.
5. Add the vanilla and iced water a little at a time, cutting it in with a knife until it just holds. Wrap and rest in the fridge 30 minutes.
6. Roll the pastry 4 mm thick and cut 15 cm rounds. Heap 2 heaped tbsp filling on one half, leaving a 1.5 cm rim.
7. Damp the rim, fold to a half-moon, press out the air and crimp firmly with a fork. Prick the top twice so steam escapes.
8. Brush with egg wash, dust with sugar and bake at 190°C (375°F) for 20–25 minutes, until deep gold and the crimped edge is set and sandy. Cool 15 minutes; the filling is molten straight from the oven.

Technique

• Fresh grated coconut, not desiccated, is what makes an Antiguan tart chewy rather than sandy. Desiccated coconut drinks the syrup and goes dry.
• Cook the filling until it mounds on the spoon. A loose filling boils out at the crimp and welds the tart to the tray.
• Browning (burnt-sugar colouring) is used across the Caribbean for the dark mahogany look; it adds colour and a faint bitterness, not sweetness.

Substitutions

• No fresh coconut: use 300 g unsweetened desiccated coconut soaked 20 minutes in 250 ml warm coconut milk before cooking.
• Swap the rum for 1 tsp almond essence if the tarts are for children.

Variations

• The Antiguan tart is folded as a half-moon turnover; in Barbados the same filling goes into an open sugar-glazed shell.
• Guava jam or a spiced pineapple filling replaces the coconut in the same pastry.

History

An Antiguan bakery staple sold beside raisin buns and butter bread.

Frequently asked questions

What is Coconut tart?

Coconut tart is a dessert from Antigua and Barbuda: pastry turnover filled with sweet spiced grated coconut. An Antiguan bakery staple sold beside raisin buns and butter bread.

How long does Coconut tart take to make?

Coconut tart takes 35 min of preparation and 45 min of cooking. The recipe makes 8 tarts. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Coconut tart?

Yes, within limits. No fresh coconut: use 300 g unsweetened desiccated coconut soaked 20 minutes in 250 ml warm coconut milk before cooking. Swap the rum for 1 tsp almond essence if the tarts are for children.

What is the most important thing to get right in Coconut tart?

Fresh grated coconut, not desiccated, is what makes an Antiguan tart chewy rather than sandy. Desiccated coconut drinks the syrup and goes dry.