The walnut tree did not come to Britain until the fifteenth century, our often cold and wet climate seeming too hostile for such a southern European tree, hut it flourished, nevertheless, particularly on large estates. Some of the latter specialised in different species of walnut and at Wimpole Hall, a National Trust house just outside Cambridge, they grew 40 different varieties. Recipes using walnuts appeared in Britain in the seventeenth century and it became a favourite in puddings and pies, often mixed with cinnamon, eggs, sugar and cream. The walnut regained prominence in the mid-twentieth century with the popularity of the Waldorf salad. This tart is based on an early nineteenth-century recipe with a 1950s twist of using evaporated milk.