Preheat the oven to 180 ºC (350 ºF). Grease 3 patty pan trays.
Make the short pastry. Blend the butter and sugar. Add the egg yolks and vanilla essence. Mix well. Add the flour and salt and mix to form a dough. Place the pastry in a plastic bag and leave to rest for 30 minutes.
Roll the pastry out thinly. Cut the pastry with a biscuit cutter to fit the patty pans. Line the patty pans with the pastry discs.
Place 1 teaspoon apricot jam into each pastry case.
Make the coconut meringue. Whisk the caster sugar and baking powder in a small mixing bowl. Beat the egg whites until stiff and glossy adding the sugar and baking powder a tablespoon at a time. Fold the coconut into the meringue.
Top of the apricot jam with 1 tablespoon of coconut meringue.
Bake in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes until light brown. Allow to cool down for 15 minutes before lifting the cookies out of the patty pans.