Hertzoggies are described as sweet pastry tartlets filled with apricot jam and topped with a coconut meringue. It’s origin dates back to between 1924 – 1939 as the favourite of the then Prime Minister of South Africa, General Hertzog. No matter how it came about, it is another one of those sweet desserts that forms part of our South African heritage.
Once again hertzoggies takes me right back to my childhood. No party was complete without a plate of these on the table. I remember as kids we were not allowed to have anything from the table before the adults didn’t have first. When my mom gave us the go-ahead to take something from the table, the hertzoggies would be the first choice.
Melt-in-the-mouth goodness and perfectly paired with a cup of warm tea.
Hertzoggies don’t all look the same. You will find some baked with coconut meringue on the one side and the apricot jam added afterwards on the other side. Then you will find some without coconut in the meringue. The shapes will also differ – some are shaped round and others like flowers. The pastry also varies, from puff pastry to short crust. Some prefer thicker pastry cut outs, some prefer thinner.
My take on herzoggies is that I use the flaky buttery pastry. I don’t like a thick base so I roll my pastry to about the thickness of ½ cm. I also don’t add sugar to my coconut meringue as the jam and desiccated coconut is sweet enough.
Tips for making hertzoggies
- Refrigerate the pastry once it has been cut out and pressed into the patty pan.
- Make sure the consistency of the apricot jam is not too think before adding dollops to the bottom of each tartlet casing.
- Don’t add too much jam to each casing as it will ooze out on the side once it bakes in the oven.
- Make sure that the eggs are fresh.
- Use a glass or metal bowl to whisk the egg whites.
- Before whisking the egg whites, make sure the mixing bowl is clean as well as the whisk or beater attachments are clean. Any form of dirt or fat residue will affect the volume of the meringue.
- In order for the coconut meringue to hold its shape, whip the eggs whites to stiff peaks.
Hertzoggies
Equipment
- 12 hole Patty Pan
Ingredients
- ¼ piece flaky buttery pastry (see previous post for recipe)
- 12 tsp smooth apricot jam
- 2 large egg whites
- ½ cup desiccated coconut
Instructions
- Grease a 12 hole patty pan.
- Flour a clean surface and roll out the flaky buttery pastry.
- Use a 7cm round cookie cutter and cut out pastry rounds. Press into the patty pan.
- With a fork prick small holes to the bottom of the pastry casings and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Whisk the egg whites till stiff peaks form and fold in the coconut.
- Remote patty pan from the refrigerator and fill each casing with a dollop of apricot jam.
- Top with a tablespoon of coconut meringue.
- Bake in a preheated oven set at 180°C for 20 minutes until golden.
- Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.
