Recipe: Treacle Tart
In the fantastic world of Harry Potter, house-elves often bake treacle tart. In real-life England, it is an old-fashioned school pudding and, just like Marmite, ‘you either love it or hate it’.
Binding breadcrumbs with a sweet syrup dates back to before the 19th century, but the treacle tart we know today originated some time after the invention of the iconic golden syrup in 1883. It is called treacle tart and not golden syrup tart because treacle is the general term for by-products of the sugar-refining process. Pecans are a lovely addition to the tart crust, but feel free to leave them out for the most authentic recipe possible.
Method
- Make the shortcrust pastry by blitzing the flour, sugar, salt and butter in a food processor with the blade attachment. Blitz in short bursts until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, then add the water and egg and blitz again in short bursts until the dough forms a ball in the bowl. Remove from the bowl and knead briefly.
- Chill for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator or make it a day ahead. Prepare the tart tin (see p. 19). Roll out the dough on a floured work surface. Let it sink into the tart tin and make sure it fits firmly into the edges of the base by pressing it down with a piece of excess dough. Use a knife to trim the excess pastry, then prick the base with a fork.
- Freeze for 1 hour or chill in the refrigerator for a few hours, and preheat your oven to 200 °C.
- Crumple a piece of baking paper, smooth it out again and place it in the tart tin. Fill with baking beans or rice and place in the centre of the oven to blind-bake for 10 minutes, until the edge of the crust is coloured. Then remove the paper and baking beans or rice and bake for another 5 minutes to dry it out further. Leave the tart shell to cool.
- Make the filling by melting the golden syrup in a pan with the lemon juice, zest, cinnamon and ginger. Add the breadcrumbs and let the mixture rest for 10 minutes. Then add the cream and spoon the filling into the tart.
- Bake the tart for 30 minutes. The crust will become dark, but this gives it much more flavour. Treacle tart is delicious both warm with clotted cream and a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or cold with warm custard.
Image: Regula Ysewijn
Title: British Baking Book
Author: Regula Ysewijn
Price: €31,99
Publisher: Carrera Culinair
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