Method

First up, preheat your oven to 180 °C and grease a muffin baking tin. Next, sieve the flour, baking powder, castor sugar and salt into a large mixing bowl. Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until crumbly. Add the egg yolks and water, mix and put the dough on a clean, floured surface. Knead the dough until smooth. Pop it back into the mixing bowl, cover with cling wrap and leave to rest for about 20 minutes. While the dough is sleeping, make the meringue.

Whisk the egg whites to form soft peaks, then slowly add the sugar and vanilla essence, whisking continuously. Fold in the coconut and set aside.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough until it’s about 5 mm thick. Grab a cookie cutter if you have one (or a cup if you don’t) and cut out pastry circles, then one by one, line each hollow of the muffin tray. Spoon apricot jam on top of the pastry, and top it with the meringue.

Pop the tarts into the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden, allow to cool slightly, then carefully lift them out the tray and onto a cooling rack. Store in an airtight container. They should last about a week, but they’re so tasty they probably won’t.

Recipe extract from Justin Bonello’s Cooked in the Karoo, published by Penguin.