Simple treacle tart: A classic dessert made with honey and pastry

When you love a hot cup of tea with friends, there’s always time for a sweet treat to go with it. One of the easiest tea time tart to make is our simple tracle tart. It’s also cockney rhyming slang for “sweetheart” and it’s definitely sweet. It is prepared using shortcrust pastry with a thick filling made of golden syrup (also known as light treacle), breadcrumbs, and lemon juice or zest. Modern variations often add eggs to create a softer filling.

Simple treacle tart suggestions

Our shortcrust pastry is easy to make and you can use any form of fat that isn’t butter as your second option and lard is a great old-school addition. The tart is normally served hot or warm with a scoop of clotted cream, ordinary cream, ice cream, or custard. However, you can get as creative as you want with toppings. As almonds are soft and mild, they make a great topping with some berries to add flavour and colour.

ALSO READ: Chocolate rum torte for a grown-up treat for your dessert.

If you love sweet desserts and honey, you’ll love this old-school simple treacle tart recipe. It’s perfect with your favourite cup of tea.

Simple treacle tart recipe

5 from 1 vote

Recipe by Gary Dunn Course: DessertCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy

Servings

9

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Baking Time

25

minutes

Total time

40

minutes

Ingredients

• 12 g 12 plain flour

• 1 pinch 1 salt

• 30 g 30 lard or fat

• 30 g 30 butter

• For the filling

• 12 level tbsp 12 golden syrup

• 30 g 30 fresh white breadcrumbs

• grated zest of 2 lemons

• 2 tsp 2 lemon juice

• Optional toppings

• almonds

• berries

Method

• Sieve flour and salt into a bowl. Add fats cut into small pieces and rub them into flour until mixture resembles fine bread­ crumbs. Add water and mix to a firm dough.
• Roll out pastry thinly on a floured table and use to line a 20cm oven-proof flan dish. Re-roll pastry trimmings and cut into circles with a J-inch fluted cutter.
• Brush underside of each with water and arrange, overlapping, round edge of dish.
• Mix together syrup, breadcrumbs, lemon rind and Juice. Spoon filling into dish.
• Bake in a 200°C oven for about 25 minutes, until the pastry is pale golden.

Notes

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Do you want to make more baking and bread recipes to enjoy with your friends and family? Have a look at our excellent recipe suggestions for you to try. There are many more old-school recipes like this one. They are published in the Hamlyn All-colour Cook Book.

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