Gypsy Tart

[DoubleAction]

Who knows what it is?

I'll tell you before I get into trouble! It's a pastry case with a butter, muscovado sugar and evaporated milk filling. From the Isle of Sheppy, Kent. Legend has it that an elderly local woman felt for the undernourished gypsy children and baked it to fatten them up.

I have never seen of heard of it outside of Kent, has anyone else?

The UK has lots of regional dishes but most do seem to have escaped and become known, if not popular, in other regions.

Does your region have something I might not have heard of?

TedsFederationRep

There's a stall in the Arndale Markets that sells Manchester Tarts - very popular as well!

School dinners in Sussex in the 70s and 80s.

Had it as a school lunch thing a long time ago in Devon

Definitely part of school lunches. Cheap, sweet, filling stodge. Quite delicious but I’ve not eaten it in years. Definitely Kentish delicacy.

I was introduced to Gypsy Tarts at a wedding of a Kentish Maid!

We have Bedfordshire chocolate toothpaste cake.

Thanks BIWI!

Looks delicious.

Was my favourite dessert in school (greater London) 40 odd years ago.

I went into my local baker the other day to get some rolls and was stunned to see them selling Gypsy Tarts. If I hadn't recently started Slimming World I would have bought one to see if it's still as good as I remembered.

I know them and love them, the best I've ever had was from a bakery on Rochester High Street.

School dinners in Bristol in the 1970s. Along with chocolate crunch with pink custard. Mmmm

I think I recall Gary Rhodes making it on TV, but have never tried it myself.

Dammit someone got there with the Bedfordshire chocolate toothpaste tart already :) I made one recently, it was disgusting and not at all as nice as I remembered from my childhood - but perhaps my tastes are more refined these days!

See you all gre up with nice sticky sweet things, we grew up with the Dorset Knob

Oh and the Dorset Apple cake which is truly delicious

I grew up in Hackney, and I'd never heard of gypsy tart until I met DH who grew up in Sarf London.

They are incredible

Had gypsy tart for school dinners in Hertfordshire in 1970s. I'm pretty sure it was a stalwart of catering handbooks. I'd be pretty suspicious of that origin story - there's an awful lot of false food history floating around (I'm a food historian). I suspect given how wide-spread the recipe is, it was originally circulated on food packaging (probably tins of evaporated milk).

London cheesecake

Cannot get them up here for love nor money (up north) whenever I visit family in Eastbourne I always by them from the cake shops

Also
Tottenham cake

Oooh love a London cheesecake. Nobody ever knows what they are though! We used to buy them from the local bakery when I was little (in Cornwall)

I'm going to have to make some london cheesecake but I can never find the shredded coconut

Had it at school with lemon curd, was one of my favourite puddings at school, in Bromley... is it a London borough, is it Kent debate for another time...

I had Gypsy Tart at school in the days when a proper meal was served. It seemed to be a pastry base with jam and custard on but was a long time ago so may have been more interesting than that. Was in Surrey.

That’s more like Manchester tart DontCall , gypsy tart had a very sweet, faintly caramel flavour, mousse like filling.

Had it for school dinners in Scotland in the 60s and 70s.
I really doubt its from Kent

I had gypsy tart for school dinners in Berkshire in the 60s.