History of the Maids of Honor Tart With Its Delish Dessert Recipe

The Maids of Honor tarts are dainty and delicate tarts, with a delish dessert recipe, that go all the way back to the Tudor period. Apparently they were a favorite of King Henry VII, who just happened to find some maids of honor enjoying tarts and wanted a taste himself. He found the tarts delicious and decided to bake them after the maids. Another story is that it was Anne Boleyn, a maid of honor before she married Henry VII, who made these tarts and that’s how the name came to be. The King thought the tarts were so delicious, he demanded that the recipe be locked up at Richmond Palace. The tarts eventually became popular in Richmond and began being sold at the Maids of Honor tea room.

This dish consists of a flaky puff pastry shell that’s filled with a rich and creamy filling. You can have them for afternoon tea or just as a snack. It’s a culinary delight, which is no wonder why it’s cherished for a long time now. You can also make the maids of honor tart at home with this simple recipe. We can’t guarantee that it’s exactly the same as the one made during the Tudor period, but it’s close enough.

Recipe for Maids of Honor Tart

Ingredients:

• 200 g chilled unsalted butter
• 200 g flour
• 100 g caster sugar, plus 1 tbsp
• 3 eggs
• 80 ml chilled water
• 900 ml milk
• 45 ml white wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp cornflour
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tsp salt
• icing sugar, for dusting

Instructions:

• Place the chilled butter between two sheets of parchment paper and beat it down until it’s flat. It should be a 15 centimeter square. Put it back in the fridge.
• Then place the flour, 1 tablespoon of caster sugar, and half teaspoon of salt in a mixing bowl.
• Then add 1 egg and chilled water into the flour. Mix until you get a dough.
• Roll out the dough into a 45 centimeter rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Place the chilled butter in the middle of the dough sheet and then wrap it.
• Roll it out a little and then fold it back into a rectangle of the above mentioned dimensions.
• Wrap it tightly in cling wrap and refrigerate for about an hour.
• Add milk and ½ teaspoon of salt in a saucepan, then bring it to a boil.
• Take the pan off heat after this and mix in the vinegar.
• Leave it to stand for 5 minutes, you will see cheese curds on the top, then strain through a fine mesh sieve.
• Squeeze any excess liquid from the cheese curds and keep it aside. Use the liquid for some other recipe.
• Preheat the oven to 200 C and grease a muffin tin lightly with some melted butter.
• Roll out the chilled pastry dough into the size of an A4 sheet.
• Using a cookie cutter, cut out 12 circles out of the dough and place them inside the muffin tin. Press the bottom and the sides.
• Prick the base and sides of every pastry shell with a fork, then place the muffin tin in the oven for 15 minutes.
• Lower down the oven temperature to 180 C. If the bottoms of the pastry shells have risen, press them down with the back of a teaspoon. Set them aside to cool.
• In a bowl, take the cheese curds you just prepared, add the caster sugar, cornflour, lemon zest, and two eggs. Whisk until you get a smooth mixture. There should be no cheese curd lumps.
• Add about 3 to 4 teaspoons of this filling into the partially baked pastry shells.
• Bake them in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until the filling looms firm.
• Let the pastries sit in the muffin tin for 5 minutes before removing them carefully and letting them cool down on a wire rack.
• You can serve them with icing sugar when they are completely cool to touch and serve.