History

"Maids of Honor" or tarts were introduced in Medieval times. Like pies, they could be savoury or sweet. Generally, the difference between a tart and a pie is the former does not contain a top crust. This made tarts a popular choice for cooks who wanted to present colorful dishes.

"The term 'tart' occurs in the 14th century recipe compilation the Forme of Cury [a cook book], and so does its diminutive 'tartlet'. The relevant recipes are for savour items containing meat. A mixture of savour and sweet was common in medieval dishes and typical of the elaborate, decorative tarts and pies which were served at banquets. There was, however, a perceptible trend towards sweet tarts. These usually contained egg custard and fruits of various kinds, which could be used to provide the brillant colours of which medieval cooks were fond: red, white, and pale green from fruits; strong green from spinach, which was used in sweet tarts; yellow from egg, with extra colour from saffron; and black from dark-coloured dried fruits. There are many 16th century recipes for coloured tartstuffs'."
---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p. 785)

"Tart...In America, the word tart tends to indicate a small individual open pastry case with a sweet, usually fruit filling. In Britian, this usage survives in the particular context of jam tarts, but on the whole tart refers to a larger version of this, with jam, fruit, or custard filling, that is cut into slices for serving, or to a similar fruit-filled pastry case with a crust--in other words, a fruit pie."
---An A to Z of Food & Drink, John Ayto [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 2002 (p. 338)