Neenish Tarts
Sweet pastry shells with mock cream filling and distinctive two-tone icing. The mysterious Australian bakery classic from the 1950s.
The Story Behind This Recipe
Learned from a retired baker in country Victoria - Dorothy Stevens
In every Australian bakery display case sits an oddly charming little tart that confuses newcomers and delights locals: the Neenish Tart. Half its icing is chocolate brown, half is pastel pink or white, split precisely down the middle. The filling is an unusual mock cream made from butter, icing sugar, and milk. And nobody really knows where the name came from or who invented it, though everyone has a theory. It's distinctly, mysteriously, wonderfully Australian.
Neenish Tarts appeared in Australian bakeries sometime in the early 1900s, with various creation myths. One story credits a Mrs. Neenisch (with an 'c') who ran a bakery in country Victoria. Another suggests they were named after a Ruby Neenish who lived in Grong Grong, NSW. Yet another claims they were created in Grafton, NSW in the 1950s. Food historians have found recipes dating back to the 1930s, but their true origin remains delightfully unclear. What's certain is that by the 1950s and 60s, Neenish Tarts were everywhere in Australia - a bakery staple alongside vanilla slices and lamingtons.
What makes Neenish Tarts special is their peculiar charm. They're not sophisticated French patisserie. They're not rustic home baking. They're something uniquely Australian - practical, pretty, slightly odd, and made with economical ingredients. The mock cream filling uses butter and icing sugar instead of real cream (which would spoil quickly in hot bakery cases before refrigeration was universal). The two-tone icing serves no practical purpose except decoration, but it makes them instantly recognizable and oddly appealing.
I learned to make Neenish Tarts from a retired baker who ran a country bakery for forty years. She'd made thousands of them, developing the muscle memory for perfectly even two-tone icing. "The secret," she told me while demonstrating, "is the mock cream must be beaten until white and fluffy - at least five minutes. If you under-beat it, the tarts taste greasy. If you beat it properly, it's light as air. And the icing must be spread to the exact center before you add the second color - no overlap, no gap. That precise line is what makes a proper Neenish Tart."
Her technique was methodical: sweet shortcrust pastry blind-baked until golden, mock cream beaten to pale fluffy perfection, piped into cooled shells, left to set, then iced with mathematical precision - chocolate on one half, pink on the other, with a ruler-straight dividing line. "People think it's fussy," she said, "but once you've done a hundred, your hand knows exactly where the center is. That's what baking is - repetition until it becomes instinct."
Neenish Tarts represent a particular era of Australian baking - post-war ingenuity, when butter and sugar were more reliable than fresh cream, when appearance mattered for bakery sales, and when quirky regional specialties could become national favorites. They're not trendy, they're not health food, but they're ours - Australian through and through, with a mysterious name and a distinctive look that makes them unmistakable.
"Every recipe tells a story, and every story brings us closer to the heart of home."
Adjust Servings
Scaled Ingredients:
💡 Tip: Cooking times may need adjustment when scaling. Larger batches may take longer, smaller batches may cook faster.
Ingredients
For the Sweet Shortcrust Pastry
For the Mock Cream Filling
For the Two-Tone Icing
Pro Tips
- • Pastry must be completely cool before adding mock cream or it will melt.
- • Beat the mock cream for at least 5 minutes - this is essential for light texture.
- • Mock cream butter must be very soft (room temperature) for proper beating.
- • Both icings should be the same consistency for even spreading.
- • The two-tone line should be precise - that's the signature Neenish look.
- • Use a ruler or knife edge as a guide for the icing center line if needed.
- • These keep well for 2-3 days and some say they improve with time.
Storage
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days, or refrigerated for up to 5 days. The mock cream filling is stable and doesn't need refrigeration, but cool storage is fine. Not suitable for freezing once assembled.
Instructions
- 1
Make the pastry: In a food processor, pulse together the flour and icing sugar. Add the cold cubed butter and pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk and pulse. Add cold water 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing between additions, until the dough just comes together.
- 2
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and bring it together with your hands into a disc. Don't overwork it. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. This rest is essential for tender pastry.
30 minutes - 3
Preheat your oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Grease a 12-hole tart tin (about 7cm diameter each). If you don't have a tart tin, muffin tins can work in a pinch.
- 4
Roll out the chilled pastry on a lightly floured surface to about 3mm thickness. Cut out 12 rounds using a cookie cutter slightly larger than your tart holes (about 9cm diameter). Press each round gently into a tart hole, making sure there are no air bubbles and the pastry comes up the sides.
- 5
Prick the base of each pastry case with a fork several times. Line each with small squares of baking paper and fill with baking beans, rice, or dried beans. This blind baking prevents the pastry from puffing up.
- 6
Bake for 15 minutes with the weights, then carefully remove the paper and weights. Bake for another 5-7 minutes until the pastry is golden and cooked through with no pale soggy bits. Let cool completely in the tin.
22 minutes - 7
Make the mock cream filling: This is crucial - the butter must be very soft (room temperature) and the icing sugar must be sifted. Place the soft butter in a large mixing bowl. Using electric beaters, beat on high speed for 2 minutes until pale and creamy.
2 minutes - 8
Add the sifted icing sugar, milk, and vanilla to the butter. Beat on high speed for 5-7 minutes until the mixture is very pale, fluffy, and almost white. Don't skip this step - proper beating transforms it from greasy to light and creamy. The retired baker said 'Beat it until your arm hurts, then beat another minute.'
7 minutes - 9
Once the pastry shells are completely cool, spoon or pipe the mock cream into each one, filling them generously but leaving a 2-3mm gap at the top for the icing. Smooth the tops flat with the back of a spoon. Refrigerate while you make the icing.
- 10
Make the chocolate icing: In a small bowl, sift together 1 cup of icing sugar and the cocoa powder. Add 2 tablespoons of boiling water and stir until smooth and spreadable. It should be thick but pourable. Adjust consistency with more water or icing sugar as needed.
- 11
Make the pink (or white) icing: In another small bowl, place the remaining 1 cup of sifted icing sugar. Add 1-2 tablespoons of boiling water and stir until smooth and the same consistency as the chocolate icing. If making traditional pink icing, add a tiny drop of pink food coloring.
- 12
Now the signature two-tone icing - this requires a steady hand: Working with one tart at a time, use a small spoon or butter knife to spread chocolate icing over exactly half of the tart, right to the center. Then spread pink icing over the other half, meeting at the center line. The retired baker's technique: 'Imagine a line down the middle, spread to it but not over it.'
- 13
Repeat with all 12 tarts. The line between the two colors should be straight and precise - that's what makes a proper Neenish Tart. If you go over the line, scrape it back before it sets.
- 14
Let the icing set at room temperature for 30 minutes, or refrigerate for 15 minutes to speed it up. Once set, the tarts are ready to serve.
30 minutes
Ingredient Substitutions
Nutrition Information
Per serving (approximate)
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