Gypsy Tart

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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?

@ThePolishWombat My Mum used to make Buctheln ( not sure that’s the right spelling!) God I loved it ... pieces of bread in a ring and each piece filled with hot jam! It’s an Austrian thing I think too.

I love Tottenham cake. I live in the north these days and tried to make it myself, failed miserably. It wasn't the same at all.

We had Manchester tart for school dinners at secondary school. We called it Jam Rags (ie sanitary towels).

@MrsGrindah I think there’s a few different variations around Europe all called different things! But they are similar recipes

I went to two different primary schools and at both the Gypsy Tart was served with a thin, yellow, slightly sour sauce that complimented it perfectly.

I have had Gypsy tart since leaving school but it's not the same without the bitter yellow sauce! Anyone else remember it?

@ThePolishWombat that sounds similar to "buchty", which I had in Slovakia 20 years ago - we were near the Polish border, so maybe it's local to that area?

@NotJustAnyFucker You’re from round my way! I had a butter pie yesterday.

Manchip

Gert Lush!!

Northumberland tart- pastry base, currants, glace cherries and egg filling, white icing topping.

But my favourite are 'Singin' Hinnies', fruity griddle scones that sizzle on the griddle. They are just delicious. My granny used to make them on the range in her kitchen a Sunday afternoon. The singin' is the sizzle.
'Hinny' is the (old-fashioned now) Geordie version of 'honey' used affectionately for children and women. It's a great word.

@NC4Now I knew there'd be one of you somewhere 😂 Bloody love a butter pie every now and then!

@BlackWhitePurple maybe it’s not as “regional” as I thought then! I’ve been all over Poland, but my mum’s home town (down south) is the only place I’ve ever eaten it or seen it widely available in cafes etc

REgular for school dinners at high school. A bit too sweet for me. (or the school one was.)

We had gypsy tart often for school pudding in Kent, normally with a slice of apple so all your teeth didn't fall out. I love Manchester Tart though!

I love lardy bread , as far as I'm aware it's local to West Wiltshire and the bath area. It's a bit like a Chelsea bun but it's not round and the shortening is lard.

Lardy cake is all over the West Country, goose. Cheltenham has its own version made from beef dripping. Drippers are yummy!

Gypsy tart was on our school dinner menu in the 70's. SW London

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

Now I'm homesick for the North, FallonSwift

I live in the SW now and can't even lay my hands on a decent Chorley cake!

We had lardy cake in Hampshire, very sticky and I loved it as a child. I'm sure I'd find it far too sweet now!

I"m from the Isle of Sheppey where it originates from. And I still love it

My Kentish DP introduced me to gypsy tart when we met and it changed my life. I'm going to buy some now.

It was a school dinner pudding when I was in primary school. Yorkshire, late 60s/early 70s.
Haven't seen or heard of it for years!

Also, a pastry case with jam, set custard and a sprinkle of dessicated coconut: Manchester tart.

And the other school tart: pastry case with jam and then cornflakes in sticky syrup. Can't remember what that was called though.

Gypsy tart - just yum. It used to be pudding when I was a primary school. (Kent funnily enough),

You can still buy in the local bakers - Plaxtol Bakery. I dont eat many sweet things but often find room for one of these.

This thread reminds me of the traybakes thread from last year! I swear I put on weight just reading that thread!

I think I've had both Gypsy tart and the one that @ODFOx mentions - and I would love to make them again, but if I make them, I'll eat them, and my waistline (or equator, as it should more accurately be known) wouldn't thank me.

Though I have just finished knitting myself a cardigan and found that I have massively over sized it - I am a size 32, and this cardigan would fit me and a friend (it didn't look that big when I was knitting it). I suspect it would fit someone with a 60" chest - it's a small, woolly tent rather than a garment. I wonder how much gypsy tart I'd have to eat to fit into my cardigan......

Used to have it quite regularly as a child up here in Scotland.