Have you heard of or tried congress tarts?
These delectable little morsels have a crisp buttery pastry base filled with a jam and almond frangipane filling.
Similar to an individual bakewell tart, these tarts are easy to make from store cupboard ingredients too.
They are traditionally topped with a pastry cross, then baked until golden and served warm or cold.
Perfect with your favourite hot drink, or for Sunday teatime, these little treats have a habit of disappearing very quickly.
Enjoy!
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The name congress tarts or congress curd tart seems to have been around since at least 1888 when a book was publised by a man called Robert Wells.
His book was called 'The Modern Flour Confectioner wholesale and retail' and it contains recipes for various cheap bakes including 'recipes for dainties for the working-man's table'.
The recipe is for a form of cheese curd tart, a sort of early baked cheesecake which also had currants and almonds added to it.
By the 1920s the recipe had become individual tarts, without cheese curds and with a pastry cross added. It was very popular, particularly in the west country, namely Cornwall.
Often, coconut was used instead of almonds too.
However, I cannot find the origins of these tarts or how they got their name.
Please do let me know if you know anything about them. I'd love to solve the mystery!
❤️ Why you will love this recipe
- Made from store cupboard ingredients.
- Easy to make.
- Similar to a Bakewell tart.
- Individual portions.
- Perfect for afternoon tea.
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🥘 Ingredients
- Flour - plain or all purpose flour.
- Butter - unsalted butter preferably. For the pastry make sure that the butter is very cold.
- Lemon - just the zest from an unwaxed lemon.
- Baking powder - make sure that this is in date as it tends to lose its raising ability if left open too long.
- Salt - cooking or kosher salt.
- Almonds - ground almonds for the filling and optional whole blanched and flaked almonds for the decoration.
- Extract - almond extract opposed to almond essence for a stronger flavour.
- Jam - seedless raspberry jam as it form a thin layer at the bottom of the tart. Standard jam is likely to have too many lumbs for this.
- Eggs - large and free range eggs to bind the pastry and the filling.
- Sugar - caster sugar for the pastry and the filling.
The recipe card with ingredient quantities and detailed instructions can be found at the bottom of the post.
🍽 Equipment
- 12 hole shallow baking tin 68mm or 2 ⅝ inches diameter
- round cutter 68mm or 2 ⅝ inches diameter
- mixing bowl
- saucepan or microwave to melt butter
- wooden spoon
- food processor - optional
- cooling rack
🔪 Instructions
Start by making the sweet shortcrust pastry.
Put the flour and salt in a bowl and mix.
Cut the butter into small pieces and rub it into the flour with fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs.
Stir in the sugar then mix in a beaten egg with a fork.
Bring the mixture together with your hands into a dough and knead briefly.
💭 Top Tip
If you have a food processor it takes just seconds to make pastry.
This is my preferred method, especially if you have getting messy hands or your kitchen is hot from baking or hot weather.
- Put the flour, salt, sugar and cubed butter into the bowl of a food processor.
- Pulse 4 times to combine.
- Add the egg and pulse 4 times.
- Gather the mixture into a ball. and knead briefly
- Add a touch of cold water if the mixture doesn not come together easily.
Flatten the pastry into a disc and wrap in clingfilm.
Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill.
💭 Top Tip
- It's really important to chill the dough so that the butter is hard again. This helps the dough to relax, making it easier to roll out and avoid shrinkage when cooking.
Make the filling by putting the ground almonds, sugar, salt and baking powder into a bowl.
Melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat or in a bowl in the microwave.
Allow to cool slightly then beat into the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon.
Beat the eggs and almond extract into the almond mixture.
Roll the dough out with a little extra flour to prevent sticking at about half a centimetre thickness.
Cut out 12 rounds and place in the tin.
Place a teaspoon of jam in the bottom of each one.
💭 Top Tip
- To make rolling out easier, place the dough between 2 layers of cling film or baking parchment.
- There is enough pastry to decorate each tart with a pastry cross, so there will be some leftover.
Use two teaspoons to divide the almond frangipane filling.
Spread it out gently to cover and seal as much jam as possible.
If the jam bubbles through while cooking it can weld the pastry to the tin!
Decorate the tarts with flaked almonds, whole almonds or thin crosses of pastry.
⏲️ Baking Time
Preheat the oven to 180 C / 350 F / 160 FAN / Gas 4 and bake for about 20 minutes or until golden.
Leave the tarts to cool in the tins for a few minutes.
Use the end of a dinner knife to loosen the tarts and cool completely on a wire rack.
🥗 Serve with
Perfect for afternoon tea or Sunday teatime.
Try some of these ideas.
- Afternoon Tea Sandwiches
- Flapjacks
- Melting Moments
- Ginger Cake
- Cheese and Bacon Scones
- Cream Tea Scones
- Madeira Cake
- Salted Caramel Mille Feuille
- Coronation Chicken Sandwich
- Sable Biscuits
- Cardamon and Lime Madeleines
- Egg Mayonnaise Sandwich
- Parsnip Cake
🥙 Substitutions
- Raspberry jam - use any other jam but chop any lumps first.
📖 Variations
- Coconut - swap the ground almonds for almond flour and add some dessicated coconut to the top. Use vanilla extract in place of the almond extract.
- Citrus - use orange or lime zest ofr a change.
🍣 Storage
- Container - store in an airtight container for up to a week.
- Freezer - freeze for up to 3 months.
🍱 Prepare in Advance
- Prepare the pastry the day before and store in the fridge or freeze for up to 2 weeks.
🤔 FAQs
The Bakewell tart, (from the town of Bakewell in Derbyshire), originated as a pudding in a puff pastry case, filled with custard, before the frangipane version that we know today.
A Bakewell tart tends to be one large tart, topped with flaked almonds.
A cherry Bakewell is an individual tart topped with glacé icing and a cherry on the top.
Congress tarts seemed to have originated from curd tarts. Curd cheese, also known as farmers cheese, is similar to cream cheese but has a lower fat content.
More recipes using ground almonds
📋 Recipe
Congress Tarts
Equipment
- 12 hole shallow baking tin 68mm or 2 ⅝ inches diameter
- round cutter 68mm or 2 ⅝ inches diameter
- Mixing bowl
- saucepan or microwave to melt butter
- Wooden spoon
- Food processor - optional
- cooling rack
Ingredients
Pastry
- 220 g flour
- 75 g caster sugar
- 110 g unsalted butter
- 1 egg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Filling
- 12 teaspoon seedless raspberry jam
- 80 g ground almonds
- 15 g flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 50 g caster sugar
- 50 g unsalted butter
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
Decoration
- 4 blanched almonds
- 1 tablespoon flaked almonds
Instructions
Pastry by food processor
- Put the flour, salt, sugar and cubed butter into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse 4 times to combine.
- Add the egg and pulse 4 times.
- Gather the mixture into a ball and knead briefly.
Pastry by hand
- Put the flour and salt in a bowl and mix.
- Cut the butter into small pieces and rub it into the flour with fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs.
- Stir in the sugar then mix in a beaten egg with a fork.
- Bring the mixture together with your hands into a dough and knead briefly.
Chilling
- Flatten the pastry into a disc and wrap in clingfilm.
- Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill.
Filling
- Put the ground almonds, sugar, salt and baking powder into a bowl.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat or in a bowl in the microwave.
- Allow to cool slightly then beat into the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon.
- Beat the eggs and almond extract into the almond mixture.
- Roll the dough out with a little extra flour to prevent sticking at about half a centimetre thickness.
- Cut out 12 rounds and place in the tin. Place a teaspoon of jam in the bottom of each one.
- Use two teaspoons to divide the almond frangipane filling evenly to cover the jam.
- Decorate the tarts with flaked almonds, whole almonds or thin crosses of pastry.
- Preheat the oven to 180 C / 350 F / 160 FAN / Gas 4 and bake for about 20 minutes or until golden.
- Leave the tarts to cool in the tins for a few minutes the lift out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Disclaimer: The nutritional information provided is approximate and is calculated using online tools. Information can vary depending on various factors, but we have endeavoured to be as accurate as possible.
Detailed instructions for this recipe, including step by step photographs, hints and tips, can be found in the main article
More baking recipes
Food Safety
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
- Wash hands after touching raw meat.
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.
- Never leave cooking food unattended.
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds.
- Always have good ventilation when using gas.
Do you have a question or did you make the recipe?
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Kelley
I can't wait to try these! They sound fantastic! Thanks so much for sharing
Colleen
I've never heard of this tart but it looks really yummy. I'm going to make them for my niece's wedding shower desert tray.
Kali Alexandria
Absolutely delicious!
Nic
This was my first time trying Congress Tarts, and they were so so good!! Will make again!
Ana F.
I'm making these this weekends for brunch! The recipe is excellent and can't wait to taste the flavor of these congress tarts. Thank you!
Katherine
I'm always a sucker for frangipane, so these tarts are a hit!
Natalie
Delicious tarts! Made the pastry in a food processor as you suggested and it was done in a minute, thanks!
Aimee Mars
I've never heard of congress tarts, but they look and sound lovely! They remind me of these little Italian biscuits a co-worker used to bring me years ago that I would enjoy with my morning latte. I can't wait to try these!
Casey
These are so fantastic with a cup of coffee-- LOVE the almond flavor!!!!