Treacle Tart

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •23cm loose-bottomed tart tin
• •Rolling pin
• •Baking parchment and baking beans (or rice) for blind baking
• •Microplane or fine grater for the lemon zest
• •Heavy-bottomed saucepan

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the pastry

   Tip the flour, sugar, and salt into a large bowl. Add the cold butter and rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs. Don't overwork it. You want to see flecks of butter still in there. Stir in the egg yolk, then add the cold water a tablespoon at a time, mixing with a knife until the dough just comes together. Press it into a flat disc, wrap it, and put it in the fridge for at least thirty minutes.

   Cold hands help. Run your wrists under the cold tap for a moment before you start. Warm hands melt the butter, and melted butter makes tough pastry.
2. 2

   Line the tin

   Roll the chilled pastry out on a lightly floured surface to about three millimetres thick. Lift it carefully into a 23cm loose-bottomed tart tin, easing it into the corners without stretching. Trim the edges, but leave a slight overhang for shrinkage. Prick the base lightly with a fork and put the tin back in the fridge for another twenty minutes. This second chill is the difference between a crisp base and a soggy one.

3. 3

   Blind bake

   Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan. Line the chilled pastry case with baking parchment and fill with baking beans or rice. Bake for fifteen minutes, then lift out the parchment and beans and bake for another five minutes until the base looks dry and pale gold. Take it out and trim any pastry that's risen above the rim with a small sharp knife.

   If you skip the blind bake, the filling will sink into the pastry and you'll get a sad, soft bottom. Twenty minutes of patience now saves the whole thing.
4. 4

   Warm the syrup

   Put the golden syrup in a saucepan over a low heat. You're not cooking it, just loosening it so it pours easily and mixes properly. When it's runny and warm, take it off the heat. Stir in the breadcrumbs, the lemon zest, and the lemon juice. Let it sit for a few minutes. The breadcrumbs need to drink in the syrup before you add the egg. They should look swollen and glossy.

   The breadcrumbs matter more than you'd think. Stale white bread, blitzed in a processor, is what you want. Shop-bought dried crumbs are too fine and they turn the filling pasty.
5. 5

   Combine and pour

   Once the breadcrumb mixture has cooled to barely warm, beat in the egg. Pour the filling into the pastry case and spread it level. It should come almost to the top. Don't worry if the surface looks a bit lumpy with breadcrumbs. It evens out as it bakes.

6. 6

   Bake until set

   Bake for twenty-five to thirty minutes. The top should turn a deep, freckled gold and the filling should look set around the edges with the faintest wobble in the very centre when you nudge the tin. The kitchen will smell of warm lemon and burnt sugar, which is to say, of childhood for anyone who grew up in this country. Let the tart cool in the tin for at least twenty minutes before slicing. It needs to settle, or it'll run.

7. 7

   Serve

   Cut into generous wedges and serve warm or at room temperature with a jug of cold double cream, or a spoonful of clotted cream if you're feeling deliberate about it. Custard works too, but the cold cream against the sticky, sweet filling is the version I keep coming back to.

Chef Tips

• •Use real golden syrup, the kind in the green and gold tin. Other syrups will work in a pinch but they don't have the same caramel depth. This is a tart of three or four ingredients, so each one carries weight.
• •Don't skip the lemon. People sometimes think of treacle tart as one-note sweet, and that's because they've eaten ones made without enough citrus. Two lemons isn't a lot when 450g of syrup is doing the heavy lifting. If anything, lean a bit heavier on the zest.
• •Make your own breadcrumbs from a stale white loaf. Tear the bread into chunks and pulse in a food processor until you've got coarse, uneven crumbs. The texture is what gives the filling its proper, slightly chewy bite. Shop-bought dried crumbs turn the whole thing into a paste.
• •The tart keeps well for two or three days under a cloth in a cool place. Some say it's better on the second day, when the filling has settled and the flavours have mellowed. I'm inclined to agree, though I rarely manage to leave it that long.

Advance Preparation

• •The pastry can be made up to two days ahead and kept wrapped in the fridge. Let it sit at room temperature for ten minutes before rolling, or it'll crack.
• •The pastry case can be blind-baked a day ahead and kept somewhere cool, then filled and baked the day you want to serve it.
• •The whole tart keeps for two to three days in a tin or under a cloth at room temperature. Warm individual slices in a low oven for a few minutes if you want to bring back the just-baked feel.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 120g)