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Treacle Tart
Serves 8 Prep 1 hr 30 min Cook 35 min Total 2 hr 5 min Type Dessert Origin British

Treacle Tart

A proper British pudding: a sweet pastry case filled with golden syrup, breadcrumbs and lemon, baked sticky-set. Served with cream.

Serves 8 Prep 30 minutes (plus 1 hour pastry chill) Cook 35 minutes Units Rate

Overview

Sweet shortcrust pastry: plain flour rubs with cold butter to breadcrumb texture; icing sugar adds sweetness; an egg yolk binds with a splash of water. Rests in the fridge 1 hour. The pastry is rolled, lined into a 22 cm fluted tart tin, pricked, chilled again, and blind-baked with baking beans for 15 min, then 5 more min uncovered. Filling: warm golden syrup, lemon zest and juice, fresh breadcrumbs from a day-old loaf, a beaten egg and a small pinch of ginger / cinnamon. Stirred together; poured into the blind-baked case. Baked at 180°C 25-30 min until set with a slight wobble. Cooled to warm; served with cold clotted cream.

Ingredients

Sweet shortcrust pastry

  • 200 g plain flour
  • 50 g icing sugar (sifted)
  • A pinch of salt
  • 120 g cold butter (cubed)
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1-2 tablespoons ice water

Filling

  • 450 g golden syrup (Lyle's Golden Syrup - a full tin)
  • 100 g fresh fine breadcrumbs (from a day-old white loaf - crusts cut off, blitzed in a food processor)
  • 1 egg (large, beaten)
  • 50 ml double cream (optional, for extra richness)
  • 1 lemon (zest)
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon dark golden syrup (the slightly darker amber kind, optional, for depth)
  • ¼ teaspoon ground ginger (optional)
  • A pinch of salt

To serve

  • Clotted cream (the British classic)
  • OR vanilla ice cream
  • OR hot vanilla custard

Method

Stage 1 - Pastry

  1. In a wide bowl, whisk flour, icing sugar and salt.
  2. Rub in the cold butter with fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
  3. Add the egg yolk and 1 tablespoon of ice water; mix with a fork.
  4. Bring together with your hands into a smooth ball - add the second tablespoon of water only if needed.
  5. Press into a thick disc; wrap; refrigerate 1 hour.

Stage 2 - Line the tin

  1. Heat oven to 180°C (160°C fan).
  2. Roll the pastry on a lightly floured surface to a 4 mm disc, slightly larger than your 22 cm tart tin.
  3. Lift carefully (use the rolling pin to drape it) into the tin; press into the corners; trim any overhang flush with the top edge of the tin.
  4. Prick the base all over with a fork.
  5. Refrigerate 15 minutes.

Stage 3 - Blind bake

  1. Line the chilled pastry with baking paper; fill with baking beans (or dried rice / lentils).
  2. Bake 15 minutes.
  3. Remove the paper and beans.
  4. Return to the oven for 5 more minutes until pale gold all over.

Stage 4 - Filling

  1. Warm the golden syrup in a saucepan over very low heat just until it's runny (not hot - gentle warmth, about 1 minute).
  2. Take off heat.
  3. Stir in the fresh breadcrumbs, beaten egg, double cream (if using), lemon zest, lemon juice, optional dark syrup, ground ginger and a pinch of salt.
  4. Mix thoroughly.
  5. Let stand 5 minutes to let the breadcrumbs soak up the syrup.

Stage 5 - Fill and bake

  1. Pour the filling into the blind-baked pastry case.
  2. Smooth the top if needed (the breadcrumbs settle on standing).
  3. Optional decoration: cut pastry scraps into thin strips and lay over the filling in a lattice pattern.
  4. Bake at 180°C for 25-30 minutes until the filling is just set with a slight wobble in the centre and the top is deep golden-amber.

Stage 6 - Cool

  1. Cool in the tin 15 minutes (the filling firms further as it cools).
  2. Don't serve hot - boiling-hot syrup is dangerous and the texture is too liquid.

Stage 7 - Serve

  1. Remove from tin; slice into wedges.
  2. Serve warm with a generous spoon of cold clotted cream, OR a scoop of vanilla ice cream, OR a flood of hot vanilla custard.

Notes

  • Fresh breadcrumbs, not dried: Fresh soft breadcrumbs absorb the syrup smoothly and give the right tender filling. Dried breadcrumbs (the orange-coloured packet kind) give a hard, sandy texture.
  • Lemon is the secret balance: Without the zest and juice, treacle tart is one-note sweet and cloying. The lemon doesn't taste lemony in the finished tart - it just cuts the sugar and brings the filling alive.
  • Golden syrup, not black treacle: Lyle's golden syrup (the green tin) is the right sugar. Black treacle (molasses) is too bitter and dark; a teaspoon mixed in is fine for depth, but not as the main sweetener.

Storage

  • Refrigerate 4 days, well covered (or in an airtight container).
  • Warm individual slices at 160°C 8 minutes (microwave makes the pastry soft).
  • Freezes 2 months wrapped tightly; defrost in the fridge then warm.

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Desserts 8 hours 25 minutes Serves8