Treacle Tart

Making pastry is one of those things that fills many an amateur baker with dread, but fear not! This tart recipe (pastry included) is easy to make, visually striking and of course delicious. I've left the treacle element of the tart relatively simple, with just a little lemon to cut through the intense sweetness, but feel free to add a little spicing if that floats your boat. Also, you can enjoy devouring this one however you want, although I prefer it warm with a little vanilla ice cream. 

Prep time: 15 Mins (Plus a little time to chill your pastry)

Baking time: 63 Mins

200g Plain Flour

100g Unsalted Butter (Softened)

1 Medium Egg Yolk

25g Icing Sugar

2tsp Cold Water

600g Golden Syrup

Zest/Juice of 1 Lemon

125g Soft White Breadcrumbs

Begin by rubbing the butter into the flour in a large bowl. When the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, make a well in the centre and tip in the egg yolk, icing sugar and water. Get the mixture going again with a wooden spoon and when it starts to come together, get your hands back in there and work to a smooth even dough. Wrap the dough in cling film and leave to chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. If for whatever reason you leave the dough in for longer, just take it out 10 minutes before you need to use it.

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5 and lightly grease a 20cm loose bottomed sandwich tin. Unwrap the dough and place it on a large sheet of baking paper. Place another large sheet on top and roll out thinly, until it's large enough to comfortably fit your tin. Remove the top sheet of paper, then turn upside down and carefully place the pastry into the tin. Peel off the remaining paper, then gently fold the dough in and shape to fill the tin, leaving at least 0.5cm of dough rising above the edge. If for whatever reason the dough is uneven in the tray, you can break some off of one side to repair the other. Place some baking paper inside your tart (I find it easier to fit the paper into the tart by scrunching it up beforehand), fill with baking beans and place in the centre of the oven to blind bake for 15 minutes.

When it has blind baked, remove the beans and paper then return to the oven to dry out for 3 minutes, turning the oven down to 170C/325F/Gas 3. Remove from the oven and set to one side. Put the syrup and lemon zest/juice into a saucepan and warm through on a medium heat. When the syrup is a loose liquid stir in the breadcrumbs and remove from the heat. Pour the mixture into your tart tin and return to the oven for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave in the tin until it's cool enough to handle, then remove, slice and serve. All done!