A sweet (and personal) history of the Neenish tart
Food and cooking, whether we are conscious of it or not, connects us with family, community, and with the past. Equally, it gestures towards the future. What we cook is a tangible expression of what we want to pass on, what we value and deem worthy of remembering. In this case, it is a someone I want to remember: my Dad. The Neenish tart is one of those nostalgic Australian bakery confections he always loved and as we were approaching the third anniversary of his passing in June, I decided to research its history and try my hand at a homemade version. The Neenish tart turns out to have quite a curious – and duplicitous – history. In all my research though, I found no consensus as to how the tart got its name, but I do have a theory of my own. More on that later.
What we know as the Neenish tart today - a sweet pastry case filled with mock cream and iced with a half-and-half icing of white and chocolate or pink and chocolate, sometimes with jam below the cream - bears little resemblance to its forbear. Most contemporary bakery versions (it’s only really found in small and regional towns today) are so full of artificial additives that they can hardly claim allegiance to the original at all. The first recorded mention of ‘Nenish cakes’ is in an 1895 newspaper advert for the New South Wales Ice and Fresh Food Company in a list of their commercial products.[1] It isn’t until 1901 however, that a recipe appears in The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser, the weekly magazine edition of the Sydney Morning Herald. A columnist with the byline ‘Housewife’ shares the recipe in answer to a reader request, though she adds that, “[V]ery few directions…were forwarded to me, and as I have no time at present to give the recipe a trial, I am afraid that in some of the details you will have to use your own judgement.”[2] The instructions detail a pastry made of almond flour, egg whites, icing sugar and “a handful of flour,” which is blind baked in patty pans before being filled with a “sweet thick custard” mixed with some fresh butter. Then, “the thinnest layer of icing made with white of egg and icing sugar, one half to be coloured with strong coffee” is spread on top. No chocolate, pink food colouring or mock cream in sight. The same recipe appeared in the Launceston Daily Telegraph in 1903, but this time featuring a two toned coffee-flavoured icing, one half tinted a pale yellow and the other half a darker brown. A few years later, in 1906, ‘Housewife’ explained the technique for achieving a perfect division between the two coloured icings:
Take the tart in the left hand, dip a knife in the coffee icing, and as quickly as possible lay the knife halfway across the tart, and pull it rapidly backwards towards the right. If this is done quickly, the coffee icing will go on with a straight line right across the centre of the white icing, and there will be none spilt during the process.[3]
The recipe was later published on June 12th, 1913 in the Western Australian Bunbury Herald, where the writer notes that although she has yet to see an “amateur attempt” they are “well worth trying, and are not nearly so difficult to make as might be imagined.” She also includes an almost verbatim description of the half-and-half icing technique copied from the SMH columnist.[4]
It is not until the 1920s, however, that the tart gains greater popularity among home cooks and cookery writers. In 1924, a reader with the alias ‘Culinary’ writes in to the Melbourne Argus on the 21st May asking for a recipe for ‘Neenish cakes.’ The recipe is published again on October 3rd 1925 in the Queensland Cairns Post.[5] In 1927, the SMH columnist ‘Housewife’ reveals the source of her recipe shared twenty-six years earlier as the ABC, or Aerated Bread Company, a commercial operation founded in England in 1862 and brought to Australia in 1864. The ABC (long before the acronym was synonymous with our national broadcaster), became a leading catering company and operated several tea rooms, bakeries and a ballroom.[6] Despite being a UK company, however, the Neenish tart appears to be an entirely Australian invention (there is also a New Zealand variation with a condensed milk and lemon flavoured filling). The ABC reference also supports the theory that the tart was developed in a commercial kitchen, not in the homes of Australian country cooks. This is also hinted at in the Bunbury Herald column cited above, where the writer acknowledges that she has not yet seen them attempted by homecooks. In 1929, a recipe for Neenish tarts using the original almond flour pastry but a gelatine set cream with a pink and chocolate icing and is found in Miss Drake’s Home Cookery, published in Victoria. Interestingly, Miss Drake’s recipe also uses gelatine in the icing.[7] A variation on this, found in Miranda’s Cookbook (1932), marries the original custard centre with a chocolate and white icing combination.[8]
Despite ‘Housewife’s’ explanation, controversy over the tart’s origin has remained, and was further confused by variations in the spelling of ‘Neenish’ during the 1930s. In the first edition of The C.W.A. [Country Women’s Association] Cookery Book and Household Hints, published in 1936, there is a recipe for ‘Neinich Tarts’ which, in the charmingly pared back way of old cookery books, instructs the cook to simply make a lightly sweetened pastry that is rolled “very thin,” pressed into patty pans, and filled with a “good thick custard.” The recipe stipulates that the icing should be “thin” and to use “chocolate and white alternately.”[9] This spelling of ‘Neinich’ was used in subsequent editions of the CWA cookbook until 1964. It has given rise to the idea that the tart may have Germanic, or some other European origin, but since the ‘Neenish’ spelling predates this, it suggests the alternate spelling was used to give the tarts a Continental allure.[10] In 1956, the Australian Women’s Weekly published a recipe that used condensed milk, cake crumbs, egg yolk and flavourings for the filling (which is perhaps the source for, or a derivative of the New Zealand variation). The same magazine published a recipe in 1963 for Pineapple Neenish tarts in ‘Ten Menus for the Modern Hostess’ by Leila Howard. This variant, with pineapple jam underneath the cream and passionfruit icing, can still also be found in some bakeries today.
Speaking of variations, a search using (hashtag) #neenishtart reveals a whole world of inventive Neenish-adjacent creations. Torched meringue, quince jam, chocolate and mint icing, decorative piping, Neenish slice and Neenish cheesecake, even a stylish version with a raspberry panacotta filling by Phoebe Rosewood,[11] formerly Food Director of Delicious Magazine, makes an elegant entrée into the prosaic and rather old-fashioned world of the Neenish tart. Neil Perry has experimented with them. Peter Gilmore of Bennelong restaurant at Circular Quay in Sydney, known for his creative interpretations of retro classics like the lamington, reinvented this bakery staple with a chocolate shortcrust pastry, house made raspberry jam, dark chocolate ganache and a raspberry ripple ice cream served on the side. Neenish fans, though perhaps relatively small in number, are passionate, (there’s even a father and son team, the Neenish Hunters, dedicated to tracking down as many Neenish tarts as they can find). There’s a palpable love for the Neenish tart out there, in both our regional and metropolitan centres, and it doesn’t show any signs of diminishing.
While the enduring appeal of the Neenish tart is clear, the origin of the name is still a mystery. There is a great story about a supposed Grong Grong[12] resident, Ruby Neenish who, running low on cocoa powder in 1913 and being a resourceful woman, decided to ice the tarts she was making for a shower tea with half chocolate and half white icing. The story was relayed by Douglas Evans to a Sydney Morning Herald theatre critic in 1988, who was seeking information on the tart on behalf of his own mother. Evans wrote to the critic explaining that he recalls his mother telling the story and that thereafter, the confections were known as Neenish tarts. It was not until 2016 that the story was revealed to be a prank, when journalist Rachel Carbonell tracked down Evans while researching the origins of the tart.[13] Evans, having taken offence at the Herald journalist’s disparaging remarks about his hometown, concocted the tale to get his own back, which was circulated widely and taken as fact. With the debunking of the story however, we are left with another dead-end. Where did the name come from? Some theories postulate that it is named after a French operetta, in the style of other desserts named for plays, fictional characters and even actors. In her article Carbonell posits that it might be a contraction of ‘in-betweenish,’ referring to the two-toned icing. It’s a sound theory and coupled with a casual remark from the Neenish Hunters, that the tarts are close to “but not quite Neen,”[14] it gave rise to a theory of my own. I had also seen a reference somewhere to it being borrowed from a Scottish verse, so I looked up Scottish dictionaries and discovered that nean, neen or nane in Scots can mean ‘neither of two.’ In other words, not one or the other but something else altogether. I wonder, in the development of the original recipe, whether a baker familiar with the Scots tongue, or perhaps even Scottish themselves, looked at the tart, perfectly divided down the middle with brown icing on one side and white on the other and thought, “it’s neen, neither one nor t’other. It’s neen-ish!’ A sugar-fuelled fancy perhaps, but (sweet) food for thought, nonetheless.
My research into this small sweet has been revealing, to say the least. I don’t think I have touched one since childhood and I don’t recall being a particular fan. During the development of my own recipe, I came across one in a bakery and tried it for ‘research purposes.’ It was nice-ish in an over-the-top, saccharine sort of way, but it was not something I would hasten to eat again. This is why, despite its nostalgic charm, I was interested in updating the flavours to appeal to a more modern palate while still acknowledging its historical antecedents. To this end, my three interpretations give a nod to the original coffee-flavoured icing with a coffee and caramel combination, and to the pink and brown icing with a chocolate and cherry, and a bright raspberry version. I have used larger tart tins to make them easier to handle (also making them perfect to share) and switched out the tinted icing for bitter and tart powders that balance the sweet richness of the pastry, custard and royal icing. It’s hard to say whether Dad would have liked these new flavours and textures – I think he probably still would have opted for the one he remembers from his youth; food is memory after all – but I am happy with them. More than the tarts themselves though, I feel that the process allowed me to honour Dad in a creative and meaningful way. I was able to share the tarts with my Mum and brother and in doing so we brought Dad just that little bit closer again. Sweet memories, and a recipe that can be recreated in Dad’s memory for the future, at any time.
[1] Jan O’Connell, ‘1901 Neenish tarts recipe,’ Australian Food Timeline, https://australianfoodtimeline.com.au/neenish-tarts/
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] ‘WOMAN’S WORLD,’ 12 June, 1913, Bunbury Herald (WA : 1892 – 1919), p. 6, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/8888775
[5] ‘Neenish Tarts History,’ https://www.heatherbraeshortbreads.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/neenish-tart-history.pdf
[6] Jan O’Connell, ‘1901 Neenish tarts recipe’
[7] ‘Rare Books Bake Off Competition: Neenish Tarts,’ Monash University, https://www.monash.edu/library/rare-books-bake-off/neenish-tart
[8] ‘Miranda’s Cookbook, Neinich Tart,’ 9 April, 2012, Archived (Wayback Machine), https://web.archive.org/web/20120409232712/http://goanna.cs.rmit.edu.au/~aht/neenish/miranda.html
[9] ‘Neinich Tarts,’ The C.W.A. Cookery Book and Household Hints (58th edition), p. 121, 2024, Harper Collins, Sydney Australia. First published 1936, E. S. Wigg & Son, Australia.
[10] Jan O’Connell, ‘1901 Neenish tarts recipe’
[11] https://www.delicious.com.au/recipes/neenish-tarts-recipe/o3op66d3
[12] Grong Grong is a small town in southern NSW, in Wiradjuri country. ‘Grong grong’ is an Indigenous word meaning ‘bad camping ground.’
[13] Rachel Carbonell, ‘The origins of the neenish tart: A sweet mystery and a little scandal,’ ABC Listen, https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/earshot/the-origins-of-the-neenish-tart/7585914
[14] https://www.neenishhunters.com/what-you-want-to-know-about-neenish
Neenish Tarts Three Ways
Coffee Caramel, Chocolate Cherry, Raspberry
I began my research by making the original recipe from 1901. The flavours were good but the pastry was very fragile and the icing over the uncooked custard quite unstable. As a result, they had no shelf life at all and had to be eaten immediately before they essentially dissolved! This is my intepretation of a Neenish tart, honouring the original coffee flavour profile, and updating the chocolate and pink tarts we know today into something a little more sophisticated. These are a fiddly tart to make as there are so many components. Only embark on them if you feel like a project! You’ve been warned.
INGREDIENTS
Store-bought caramel sauce OR dulce de leche
Cherry jam
Raspberry jam
Sea salt (for sprinkling over the caramel. Optional)
Espresso powder OR Premium instant coffee powder*
Cocoa powder
Freeze-dried raspberry powder**
For the pastry
Pastry cases can be made and blind baked the day before. Store in an airtight container once completely cool.
100g plain flour
90g almond meal (almond flour)
45g caster sugar
100g cold butter, diced
1 egg yolk (reserve egg white)
For the pastry cream
1 cup full cream milk
¼ cup sugar, divided
½ vanilla bean, seeds scraped
Pinch salt
2 egg yolks (reserve egg whites)
1 T cornstarch (cornflour)
For the royal icing***
2 ½-3 cups pure icing sugar, sifted (you can also whizz it in a food processor instead of hand sifting)
2 reserved egg whites
Few drops lemon juice
Equipment
6 x 10cm fluted tart tins with removable bases
Palette knife
Rolling pin
Pastry brush
METHOD
First, make the pastry. Combine flour, almond meal, and salt in a bowl. Rub in cold butter until the mixture starts to clump together (some smears of butter are fine). Using a butter knife, mix in the egg yolk. Bring the pastry together with your hands and turn onto a lightly floured surface.
Quickly knead the pastry into a smooth ball (do not overwork it), flatten slightly into an oblong and wrap in baking paper. Refrigerate at least half an hour to firm up. Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
To make the pastry cream, combine milk, half the sugar, vanilla seeds and pod, and the salt in a saucepan and bring to just below boiling point.
Whisk the remaining sugar with the cornstarch. Remove the vanilla bean pod and slowly pour the hot milk mixture over the cornstarch and sugar, whisking continuously. Return the mixture to the saucepan and whisk over a medium high heat until the custard has thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer to a bowl. Cover the surface with baking paper, or cling film, making sure it touches the surface so that a skin doesn’t form, and allow to cool slightly before placing in the fridge to get completely cold.
Next, blind bake the pastry cases. Remove pastry from the fridge and flour your work surface and rolling pin. Working evenly, roll out pastry to a thickness of about 5mm.
Take a tart tin (remove the base), turn it upside down and, using it as a guide, carefully cut a circle slightly larger than the tin. Repeat until you have six circles, re-rolling the pastry if necessary (keep dusting with flour). Gently lift each circle and place into the tins, pressing it into the corners. Repeat until all the tins are lined. Roll over the edges with the rolling pin to remove excess pastry. Place the tins on a baking sheet and place in the freezer for 10min to firm up.
After 10 min, remove from the freezer and paint each tart case with the reserved egg white using a pastry brush. Bake for 15min or until lightly golden. Set aside to cool completely (you can place them in the fridge to speed this up). Turn the oven down to 170ºC.
When the pastry cases are cool, it is time to fill and bake them. Remove the pastry cream from the fridge and beat with an electric beater until smooth. Next, place a scant teaspoon of the caramel sauce/dulce de leche and/or jam/s into each case. Spoon over the custard, ensuring you fill to the top, and carefully smooth the surface, trying not to drag up any of the sauce or jam underneath. (If you are making more than one variety, you will need to keep track of which tarts contain which filling, so either remember which way they went in the oven or use pieces of foil to indicate which is which).
Bake at 170ºC for another 15-18min until the custard is set. Allow to cool again.
While the tarts are baking, make the royal icing. Whisk the two remaining reserved egg whites until foamy, then gradually add in the sifted pure icing sugar until the icing is thick and glossy. Whisk in a little lemon juice. The consistency is correct when you can make a figure ‘8’ with the whisk and it will hold its shape. Cover the icing with baking paper or cling film (as for the custard above), if not using immediately to prevent a crust forming.
When the tarts are cool, ice them using a palette knife. To do this, dollop a generous amount of icing in the middle of the tart and, rotating it in your hand, push the icing towards the edges, jut stopping before it goes over. If the consistency is correct, the icing will hold its shape.
The icing needs to be semi-set before the powders can be added. Prepare a piece of baking paper or similar with a straight edge. Once the icing has had about 8-10min setting time, place the baking paper over half of the tart (you can do two at a time) and, using a tea strainer, coat the exposed half with the powder that complements the filling - raspberry powder for raspberry jam, espresso powder for the caramel and cocoa powder for the cherry jam (see video below). If some of the icing pulls up when you remove the baking paper, just flatten it with the damp end of the palette knife (don’t worry about it being perfectly smooth).
Allow the tarts to set completely and then enjoy the fruits of your (considerable) labour! Best eaten on the day they are made but will keep for up to three days in an airtight container.
*I had trouble finding real espresso powder (which is made by drying and processing espresso coffee), but settled on a ‘premium’ instant coffee substitute which is a fine powder made from instant coffee and roast and ground coffee. This product can be found in most supermarkets.
** Available from most supermarkets or online.
***These quantities will make a little more than you need for this recipe. Store remaining icing in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week, or in the freezer for up to 4-6 months.
