The Manchester tart is a traditional English baked tart consisting of a shortcrust pastry shell spread with raspberry jam, covered with a custard filling and topped with flakes of coconut and a Maraschino cherry. A common variation has a layer of thinly-sliced bananas under the custard.
This is unacceptable to the purist, as bananas were not available in England when the tart was first made.
The Manchester tart was a staple on school dinner menus until the mid-1980s. The original Manchester tart is a variation on an earlier recipe, the Manchester pudding, which was first recorded by the Victorian cookery writer Mrs Beeton.[1]
Robinson's Bakers of Failsworth advertises itself as the home of the Manchester tart.[2]