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neenish tart

(Australian) A small tart with a pastry base and gelatine-set cream filling, covered with icing in two colours, half and half.

ˈninɪʃ ˈtɑɹtDocumented since 1890sSilenthistorical153 viewsLast reviewed Jun 29, 2026+ Add a definition
🇦🇺 Australian & NZ slang
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Born ~1895 · no dated citations yet
1895BornToday, 2026

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Australia
#1·Apr 27, 2026AUS

(Australian) A small tart with a pastry base and gelatine-set cream filling, covered with icing in two colours, half and half.

Origin: . The oldest known reference is a September 1895 advertisement in the Sydney Sunday Times for Nenish cakes. Derivation from a or word has been suggested, and the early spellings nienich (1935) and nenische (1959) appear consistent with a German origin, but the "very English" spelling neenish has been common since even earlier, being in a January 1903 recipe in the Launceston Daily Telegraph, a May 1924 Melbourne Argus article, and a 1929 cookbook by Lucy Drake, suggesting the Germanic spellings may have developed later to give the dish a Continental feel. A popular claim that the tarts were. Origin information sourced from Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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