An old English Epiphany (January 6) tradition, this star-shaped Epiphany Tart features multicolored jams that are meant to evoke a beautiful stained glass window! As well as being very pretty, the tart is delicious and simple to make.
There seem to be two types of people when it comes to Christmas decorations: those that love them and loath to take them down on Twelfth Night (January 5) and those that can’t wait to see the end of them and enjoy seeing their house back to normal. If you are one of the former or one of the latter who enjoys baking, this is a neat little project that can extend the festive season and, let’s face it, we need all the extra enjoyment we can get!
Epiphany Tart is made in a star shape and is used to celebrate Epiphany (January 6) and the arrival of the Three Kings to the Nativity (Matthew, 2 1–12.) It is a very old recipe dating back to the beginning of the 18th century and is really just a jam tart using multiple fruit jam flavors. This treat was considered a delicacy in the Victorian age.
Originally (and interestingly), this tart gave a few hidden insights of the household’s social standing and was apparently noted amongst the neighbours. It showed how devout the household was and how well they were managing. The tart has 13 spaces—meant to symbolize Jesus and the twelve disciples—and a different jam was supposed to fit each one. You were doing pretty well in the 1800s if you could rustle up that amount of jam (even today, I only managed 5!).
The Epiphany Tart is an easy recipe, fun to do with kids, and takes you back to those lovely days of summer—especially if you harvested and canned your own fruit.
Use your favorite pastry recipe or brand or follow the directions for homemade dough below. While the tradition is 13 different jams, fit in as many as you wish (or have on hand)! My favorites are blackberry, raspberry, fig, cherry, and apricot. You can also use marmalades or preserves or even lemon curd.
Ready? See How to Make Epiphany Tart!
Serve a slice of tart with a good cup of tea (or pour a sherry—after all, we are trying to impress!). Enjoy!
Pastry Dough
Jam Tart
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I made this recipe today. Used preserves of apricot, red raspberries, and black currents. The pastry was tough, I didn’t like it, next time I’ll use my tried and true pie crust. I agree with another commenter, it’s confusing, the video shows a 6 point start finished product is a 5 point star. It would help if the video showed how to make the star. Otherwise it’s delicious and pretty easy to make.
Looks so nice! I may try it with puff pastry or biscuit dough to have for breakfast!
This looks like an interesting pastry to make but the photo of the incomplete tart is a little misleading. The finished product is a 6 pointed star but the unfinished one is only a 5 pointed star.
Thank you Zach. I was not familiar with the Hindu symbol of the Shatkona. I'm on my way to do some research. It's always a good day when you can learn something new. Having both the Jewish and Christian faiths in my family history, I'm well aware of the connection of the two religions.
Yes, Christianity came out of Judaism, the star of david is also called the Shatkona in Hinduism, religious symbols are all shared throughout almost all religions regardless of meaning and also no matter how unique people think they are.
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