Baking a tart

[CHALKWELAL]

Hi all, yesterday I baked a coconut macaroon tart. I blind baked first having made my sweet short crust pastry, added a thin layer of raspberry jam then added the mixture of caster sugar, cinnamon, desiccated coconut and vegan butter. I baked for about 40 mins at 180C Non-fan then dropped for another 5 mins at 170C as it was pretty brown on top. When I cut into the tart I could see a split in the mixture, half soft and gooey and half more crisp-like. Any thoughts. This was my first attempt at doing this. In general, my cake baking tends to be hit or miss.

 

[chassis]

On which rack or level in the oven was the tart baked?

 

[CHALKWELAL]

I baked it on a low shelf. Do you think it was a mistake to combine all of the mixture at the same time when I prepared the batter mix?

 

[chassis]

The heat isn’t getting to the middle of the filling. But the top is browned.
You have uneven heat in your oven, or too much filling, or both.
Try reducing the filling by 30%. Bake on a thermal mass like a stone or heavy bottom large sautoir.

 

[CHALKWELAL]

Many thanks for your reply chassis, I'll be looking to give that a go.

 

[retired baker]

Hi all, yesterday I baked a coconut macaroon tart. I blind baked first having made my sweet short crust pastry, added a thin layer of raspberry jam then added the mixture of caster sugar, cinnamon, desiccated coconut and vegan butter. I baked for about 40 mins at 180C Non-fan then dropped for another 5 mins at 170C as it was pretty brown on top. When I cut into the tart I could see a split in the mixture, half soft and gooey and half more crisp-like. Any thoughts. This was my first attempt at doing this. In general, my cake baking tends to be hit or miss.

Theres no binder, it separated, all the fat and sugar sank.
Try a TBL spoonful of some sort of binder, that could be flour, tapioca, or even almond flour.
Bake a spoonful in a small cup in your toaster oven before committing the whole batch to bake.
That way you can adjust the batter.