neenish tart

English

Etymology

Unknown. The oldest known reference is a September 1895 advertisement in the Sydney Sunday Times[1] for Nenish cakes.

Derivation from a German or Viennese German 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.[2][3]

A popular claim that the tarts were first made by a Ruby Neenish in Grong Grong, New South Wales circa 1913, when she ran low on cocoa preparing for an unexpected shower tea and made do with half-chocolate/half-white icing, was a hoax.[4]

Noun

neenish tart (plural neenish tarts)

  1. (Australia) A small tart with a pastry base and gelatine-set cream filling, covered with icing in two colours, half and half.
    • 2008, Elizabeth Smither, The Girl who Proposed: New Short Stories‎, page 14:
      She had thought of a neenish tart but then wondered if the filling might run.
    • 2010, Philip Marshall, Wainui Days, page 82:
      “See if Mrs Clarke would like a neenish tart.”
    • 2010, Books LLC, Australian Desserts: Pavlova, Anzac Biscuit, Lamington, Frog Cake, Icebox Cake, Neenish Tart, White Christmas:

Alternative forms
  • nienich tart (very rare)

References
  1. Trove digitization of the 1895 newspaper advertisement
  2. Australian National University
  3. Trove digitization of the 1903 recipe
  4. “The origins of the neenish tart: A sweet mystery and a little scandal”, in Radio National‎, 2016 July 12, retrieved 2016-07-13

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