Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

This Mornings Phil Vickery goes in search of Britains Best Tart

21/10/2020

This Morning's resident chef Phil Vickery will undertake a new mission this October as he travels the length and breadth of the nation to discover Britains Best Tart in a brand new four-part strand of the same name.

Throughout the new series Phil - a firm favourite on This Morning for 21 years - will also discover the history behind some of the best traditional tarts that Britain has to offer including the Bakewell tart, the Manchester tart, the Gypsy tart and finally the Yorkshire curd tart.

Each week Phil will visit the birthplace of these sweet treats and take viewers on a historic journey to the Derbyshire Dales, Manchester, Kent and Yorkshire, where he will meet those in the know who will share the secret recipes that date back hundreds of years. Once equipped with the local knowledge, an inspired Phil will return to the kitchen to create his own version of each tasty tart.

Phil Vickery - Press Pack interview

Phil, tell us about this new series and how it came about

Well, a couple of weeks ago on This Morning I did an almond tart and I hadn't done a lot of baking on the show for a while, but Phillip [Schofield] and Holly [Willoughby] loved it and said it was really lovely, and on the back of that I was asked by my bosses We'd like you to do a thing on Britains traditional tarts' to which I laughed at first and then they explained further the culinary version'. I did a bit of research and narrowed it down to the Manchester Tart, Bakewell Tart, Yorkshire Curd Tart and the Gypsy Tart - which I remember at school! And then we went off and filmed up and down the country, all within Covid guidelines.

What can This Morning viewers expect to see?

So I do a bit of research, and we go to the place where we believe they do one of the best or the best tart in the area, and it's not so much as judging it, it's going there, looking at what they do, and coming back and making my own version in the studio. I mean some of these tarts have such old recipes, I think the Bakewell Tart one for instance is from around 1870 so you have to modernise things a bit. And for the show I like to be careful with calories and things, so if I can lighten them and make them a lot less heavy then that's what I'll try and do. But also, a lot of the old' ingredients you can't get, for example, the Yorkshire Curd tart, to get fresh curds is quite difficult so my version on that tart I used cottage cheese. But also, I am kind of going on a history tour as well, I've definitely learnt things - there's a Bakewell pudding and a Bakewell Tart and I now know the history of both of them now! I'm still learning as I go on these trips for This Morning. Never too old!

You are a master of a pudding, is this what makes you the best person for this series?

When I was a young chef I trained in pastry and I had a flair for it. I remember making so much by hand back then; brioche, croissants, danish pastries everything. And I ended up working for about twelve years mainly doing pastry, and actually a lot of chefs around - I won't name names - but they can't do it. They hate pastry! It's such a finite thing an extra half an ounce of yeast can destroy bread for instance and 0.5g of salt can make a big difference, so it's very very specific and a lot of chefs don't have the patience!

Did you have in mind what your favourite tart might be before filming?

Not really but I have always liked Bakewell Tart even though I don't really like almond essence, but I make mine without that because I think the natural flavour of almonds is there, you don't need to enhance it. So Bakewell is pretty high up on my list, if I'm being honest.

Do you think the humble tart is underrated or being slightly forgotten about in the UK?

It is perhaps underrated, but because a lot of them are now so old, I guess people don't see them as fashionable anymore. For instance, in Bakewell they make a small Bakewell tart probably about 5cm across and 2cm deep and because it only had butter, sugar, egg and almonds in it, it was around 2,000 calories! So some are hugely calorific and so for a lot of people they find them too heavy. I tried one and I struggled to sleep that night!

What kind of tart is your personal favourite to cook and why?

Well, my personal favourite of all time is an egg custard tart. My mum used to do it for me when I was little and it was a staple in my restaurant too I used to have a guy that came to my restaurant every Monday for lunch and he once said to me, Mr Vickery, if you ever take that egg custard tart off the menu, I'm never coming here again!' and it was always on the menu, so for me, that's my favourite go to. Although my mum still tells me hers is better!

You are celebrating 21 years on This Morning, how does that make you feel?

Yes, I am! Do you think I'll get a gold watch?... I'm not sure how it makes me feel because when Denise [Robertson] was alive, she, together with Dr Chris Steele are the longest serving contributors on the show, then I think its me and Alison and actually that's rather nice that I've done it for that amount of time and that they still want me! I'm getting on a bit now so I'm very lucky and I'm very appreciative of it. I think I've travelled to 37 countries in total so far for the show how amazing is that? I've got to do so many amazing things during that time.

What have been your most memorable moments?

There are hundreds! Just things like closing the Sydney Harbour Bridge early so we could film on top of it was incredible. Then in a catamaran moored outside the Sydney Opera House where I cooked burgers that was quite special. We also went flying in a seaplane and landed on the Great Barrier Reef. Another time I went flying aroun
LINK: https://www.itv.com/presscentre/press-releases/mornings-phil-vickery-g...
See more stories from itv

Europe Stories

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

06/07/2026

Pico Lopes joins RT's FIFA World Cup 2026 Live panel

Fresh from his World Cup heroics with Cabo Verde, Roberto Pico' Lopes will join the RT panel for Argentina v Egypt tomorrow and for the England v Norway q...

06/07/2026

New RT documentary The Girl in the Water follows one family's search for answers following the death of their 23-year-old daughter

A death can be unsuspicious, but it has to be explained What happened to Ke...

05/07/2026

Free Behringer Synth Editor

Browser-based and desktop apps available Digital Sunset Studios have been busy working on an interesting project: a free software tool that provides compute...

04/07/2026

Rhodes to launch the MK8/80AE

Celebrates company's 80th anniversary Rhodes have recently revealed that they will be producing a limited run of electric pianos in celebration of their...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

03/07/2026

VSL reveal Synchron Brass (muted)

New bundle & three Single Packs Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...

03/07/2026

London Symphony Orchestra upgrade LSO St Luke's

Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...

03/07/2026

2023

1 February 2023 SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...

02/07/2026

The Crow Hill Company introduce Brackish Pads

Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...

02/07/2026

Steinberg SpectraLayers 13 now available

A new era in unmixing and spectral editing The latest version of Steinberg's spectral audio-editing software has just arrived, building on the strength...

02/07/2026

Sine Machine from Melatonin

Aims to simplify additive synthesis Sine Machine is the debut launch from Melatonin, a Vienna-based developer who have spent the past six years creating wha...

02/07/2026

iZotope acquired by Boris FX

Products to remain fully active & supported Following the news of Native Instruments joining the inMusic brand line-up, Academy and Emmy Award-winning visua...

02/07/2026

GearExpo UK 2026

What you missed! Last weekend, Saturday 27 June 2026, saw the debut of Sound On Sounds new GearExpo UK event, the largest dedicated pro-audio event to take ...

02/07/2026

Tea with Judi Dench returns to Sky Arts with legendary guest, Sir Ian McKellen

Thursday 2 July 2026 Tea with Judi Dench returns to Sky Arts with legendary guest, Sir Ian McKellen Sky today confirms Tea with Judi Dench will return this su...

01/07/2026

Tracktion unleash Waveform 14 DAW

New AI Assistant, Multi-channel Audio, ARA2 improvements & more Tracktion's DAW software has just received its latest major update, gaining a selection ...

01/07/2026

The Crow Hill Company release Brackish Pads

Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...

01/07/2026

Sweetwater & Andertons launch Darkglass Anagram Limited Edition Guitar Essentials

Exclusive run of limited-edition modelling pedals Sweetwater and Andertons M...

01/07/2026

DiGiCo Quantum338 on Tyler Childers' Snipe Hunt Tour

LEXINGTON, Kentucky - July 2026 -Tyler Childers' seventh and latest studio record, Snipe Hunter, is an adventurously sprawling collection of tunes that span...

01/07/2026

** MEDIA ALERT ** BLEACH Comes to Life in Los Angeles with First-of-Its-Kind Artist Gallery Experience During Anime Expo Week

** MEDIA ALERT ** BLEACH Comes to Life in Los Angeles with First-of-Its-Kind...

01/07/2026

UKTV appoints Matt Berry as General Manager to lead brand and marketing strategy

UKTV has today announced the appointment of Matt Berry to the newly created role of General Manager - Marketing, effective 1 July. Matt will take on this senio...

01/07/2026

Fussy asks Britain one simple question: Are you a Tosser?

Sky Zero Footprint Fund-backed TV campaign featuring Deborah Meaden challenges consumers to rethink everyday bathroom wasteWednesday 1 July 2026 Fussy asks Bri...

01/07/2026

New Sky research reveals postcode lottery leaving girls behind in sport

Constituency-level analysis reveals where girls miss out most on sport - and where targeted action could unlock more than £640 million in economic and health be...

01/07/2026

Riedel and SKAARHOJ Expand Collaboration With SimplyLive Integration

Wuppertal July 1, 2026 Riedel and SKAARHOJ Expand Collaboration With SimplyLive IntegrationRiedel Communications today announced an expanded collaboration wit...

01/07/2026

Apple Creator Studio gets smarter, faster, and more connected - UPDATE - Posted on 30 June 2026

Apple today introduced power-packed updates to Apple Creator Studio, a groundbre...

01/07/2026

Nectar360 becomes first UK Retail Media Network to achieve IAB Europe Certification following independent ABC audit

Nectar360, the Retail Media, Loyalty and Insights business of the Sainsburys Gro...

01/07/2026

FIFA World Cup delivers strong audiences across all RT platforms

9.2 million streams on RT Player between 11 and 28 June Reach of 2.9 million viewers during Group stages of FIFA World Cup on RT 2 23 million video views acr...

30/06/2026

Entries open for Thomson's Young Journalist Award 2026

Could your journalism reach an international stage? Entries are now open for the Thomson Foundation's Young Journalist Award 2026, one of the most prestigi...

30/06/2026

UJAM release Retrocraft multi-effects

Brings together saturation & lo-fi effects Following on from the release of their Voxcraft vocal-processing plug-in, UJAM have announced the launch of Retro...

30/06/2026

Zensphere v2 from Rapid Flow

New IR reverb engine, Juno-inspired chorus & more The latest version of Rapid Flow's hardware-emulation synth plug-in expands on its predecessor with a ...

30/06/2026

Shy Audio release Shy 90s Smack

Excels at heavy-handed VCA compression For their latest release, Shy Audio have recreated the crunchy' sound of a rackmount compressor that found its w...

30/06/2026

Apple raise Mac & iPad prices

Component scarcity drives cost increases Shortly after Apple's CEO Tim Cook acknowledged that cost increases would soon be inevitable , the company hav...

30/06/2026

The First Hitachi Cash Recycling Devices in the EU Were Deployed at Bank Pekao S.A.

Hitachi and Bank Pekao S.A. have completed the installation of the first Hitachi...

30/06/2026

Clear-Com Upgrades Communication Systems for Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune

eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......

29/06/2026

Evolve Dark Matter from Excite Audio

Four-layer instrument aimed at dark electronic music Excite Audio's latest software instrument has been designed with dark drum and bass, atmospheric te...

29/06/2026

Tracktion unleashes Waveform 14 DAW

New AI Assistant, Multi-channel Audio, ARA2 improvements & more Tracktion's DAW software has just received its latest major update, gaining a selection ...

29/06/2026

Focusrite publish 2026 Sustainability Report

Details environmental policies & results The Focusrite Group have just announced that following a long audit process, they have published their 2026 sustain...

29/06/2026

Arvato Systems Achieves AWS Cloud Operations Competency

Arvato Systems Achieves AWS Cloud Operations Competency The team behind the AWS Cloud Operations Competency (from left to right: Philipp Hellmich, Johanna Bod...

29/06/2026

Ger Gilroy to join RT to present a Daily Sports Podcast

RT today announced that Ger Gilroy will join the RT Podcasts team to present a daily sports podcast. Launching later this year, the new show will set the spor...

29/06/2026

OUTsurance announced as sponsors of Oliver Callan on RT Radio 1

RT Commercial announced OUTsurance as sponsor of the Oliver Callan show on RT Radio 1 from Wednesday 1 July. Oliver Callan doubles the fun, delivering two ...

28/06/2026

Softube unveil lower cost Console 1 Compact

Half-size model joins Console 1 line-up Shortly after the release of their new Flow Studio controller, Softube have announced the launch of another new surf...

28/06/2026

EVE Audio introduce EVE Origin

New EXO Series DSP control software announced EVE Audio's EXO Series monitor range has just gained a new software element that provides remote access to...

27/06/2026

UJAM release Retrocraft

Brings together saturation & lo-fi effects Following on from the release of their Voxcraft vocal-processing plug-in, UJAM have announced the launch of Retro...

26/06/2026

David Kuckhermann brings calabash to Celemony Tonalic

Virtual session musician plug-in gains new percussion options Celemony's latest update for their virtual session musician platform complements the exist...

26/06/2026

Softube unveil the Console 1 Compact

Half-size model joins Console 1 line-up Shortly after the release of their new Flow Studio controller, Softube have announced the launch of another new surf...

26/06/2026

ELT Group and Rohde & Schwarz sign a cooperation agreement to explore commercial opportunities in electromagnetic warfare and defense

ELT Group and Rohde & Schwarz sign a cooperation agreement to explore commercial...