I don’t know anybody that can’t be tempted by a slice of Treacle Tart - even if its just a slither. Maybe not in the height of summer but certainly through the Autumn months and into the depths of Winter.

We add egg to lighten, lemons to cut into the sweetness and ginger for warmth and depth. We dry our bread crumbs in the oven first so we can have a consistent product. It’s a perfect use up for day old bread.

Best served warm with vanilla Ice Cream.

Preparation

Dice the butter for the pastry. Rub into flour either by hand or in the processor until you have reached a fine crumb. Add sugar and egg and bring together to a ball. Chill and rest in the fridge for 30mins cover in cling film. Roll out to 2mm thick and line the tin. Freeze the leftover pastry for another day.

Remove crusts from bread and blitz in food processor to a fine crumb. Dry in low oven (130ºC) for 20-30 minutes or until dry and golden.

Now set the oven at 200oC for the bake.

Zest and juice Lemon

Cook

Heat Syrup in the pan gently, remove from heat add Lemon zest and then crumbs.

Allow to cool for 20 minutes until the crumbs start to absorb the Syrup. Beat Egg and Ginger together with Cream. Add to mixture with Lemon juice. Give a good stir to all is incorporated. Pour into chilled tart shell.

Place in hot oven on baking tray and cook for 10 minutes then turn down and cook for a further 20mins until set and golden brown and the pastry should have cooked through perfectly.

Note; if you have used brown bread you may find the mix a little dry and stiff. Don’t be afraid to add a tablespoon more golden syrup to balance it.

Serve or Preserve

Serve warm with a good quality ice cream or cold vanilla custard. Will keep in a airtight tin for 3 days.

You can freeze the tart. Its best to do this before its cooked. Cook from frozen for 40 minutes at 170ºC.