Treacle tart

I promised E that I would make him a Treacle Tart for his birthday.  He loves all things treacle and I am fascinated by ye olde British recipes.  I was surprised that he had not tasted it before.  Nor had I.  It took some reading of recipes to find the one I wanted to follow.  I mostly followed Nigella's recipe and tended to agree with her that it was excellent served hot with ice cream.  But it also was great at room temperature the next day.

Nigella and I don't quite see eye to eye on treacle tarts.  She doesn't top hers with any pastry.  I felt that in order to look like the genuine article it had to have a lattice pastry topping.  I was so happy to find a really clear guide at The Kitchn on how to make a lattice topping.  Last time I tried it, I felt like I was playing Twister with strips of pastry.  This time making a lattice felt effortless.

I have taken photos of the lattice process, which involves laying strips width ways (preferable with spaces in between), drawing back every second strip and laying the first one length ways.  Pull the strips that were drawn back and place down over the long strip.  Now draw the other lot of wide strips back and place another long strip down.  (I think it makes more sense with the photos.)  Do this and you will feel like you are a domestic goddess.

As I noted on E's birthday post, I had planned to make this treacle tart on his birthday.  I bought the loaf of fresh white bread and the tub of ice cream.  It took me a little while after the birthday to finally make it.  By which time I needed to buy a new loaf of bread because it needs to be fresh.  But I was determined to make it while there was still ice cream left.  (E and Sylvia think there should be ice cream in the freezer.  I have other plans for that precious freezer real estate!)

I was very pleased to finally make a treacle tart.  We all enjoyed it and had seconds.  The shortcrust pastry was lovely and light.  The lattice looked impressive.  The treacle filling was a surprise.  It tasted more lemony than I expected.  Apparently the lemon cuts through the sweetness of all that golden syrup.  E said perhaps a bit less lemon might be better.  My mum came over the next day and had a taste.  She thought it needed all that lemon.  I wish I could taste some traditional treacle tarts and get a sense of what the taste should be.

When we talked about the recipe I said it was a mixture of Nigella and Mary Berry.  Sylvia asked if Mary Berry was in the tart.  She thought it was an ingredient.  Mary Berry is not a household name for us.  But I can see why treacle tart has been a favourite in Britain.  It is made with affordable pantry ingredients that bakers usually have on hand.  Yet it felt a treat to sit down and eat a slice of tart for dessert.

More traditional British sweet food on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
Bread and butter pudding
Cranachan
Parkin
Rice pudding
Scones
Shortbread
Victoria sponge cake

More British recipes can be found here

Treacle tart
Adapted from Nigella Lawson's How to Eat and Mary Berry
Serves 6 

225g plain flour
110g butter (or margarine)
3 tbsp lemon juice
few tbsp water (I used 1 tbsp)

325g golden syrup
120g fresh white breadcrumbs
zest of 1 lemon
juice of half a lemon

ice cream to serve

Make pastry by mixing butter into flour in food processor (or rubbing it in by hand). Gradually add lemon juice and then water as required to make a ball of smooth dough.  Roll out about 2/3 of dough on a lightly floured surface and line a tart dish (mine is about 25cm in diameter.)   Wrap remaining dough in clingfilm.  Chill lined tart and remainder ball of dough in fridge about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200 C.  Heat golden syrup in a small saucepan until warm.  Stir in breadcrumbs, lemon zest and lemon juice.  Pour into chilled pastry shell and smooth out.  Roll out remaining pastry and cut into strips and place on tart to make a lattice (see above photos and text).  I also tucked in the extra pastry around the edge that was higher than the tart because it looked neater. 

Bake for 15 min at 200 C and then reduce heat to 180 C and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.  Serve hot, warm or room temperature.  (The slices we had the next day were still good.)  It is good to serve it with ice cream but I loved it without too.

On the Stereo: 
Little Bird: Kasey Chambers