A British classic, Treacle Tart is full of luscious caramel flavor all wrapped up in a lovely shortbread crust. Treacle is the “secret” to whipping up this easy tart anytime your sweet tooth is calling! But what is treacle? Read on to find out!!
When it comes to British desserts – I have some favorites – Sticky Toffee Pudding, Sponge Cake with Limoncello Cream and Strawberries… and this tart. Rumored to be Harry Potter’s favorite dessert, Treacle Tart has is one of those simple, homey desserts. A sticky, caramel sweet filling encased in a lovely no roll shortbread crust.
It’s the kind of dessert you make when you’re craving something really simple and don’t want to run to the store for ingredients!
Speaking of ingredients, the star of this tart is light treacle.
Treacle Tart FAQ’s
Treacle is an uncrystallized syrup and is created during sugar refining.There are two types of treacle – golden syrup, and it’s darker cousin, black treacle or molasses.
The most well know golden syrup is made by Lyle’s.
Golden syrup is used to top pancakes, as a sweetener in cakes and cookies – like these caramel slice bars, and makes a great sweetener for cocktails!
A tart that typically features a shortbread type crust and filled with a mixture of treacle, eggs, breadcrumbs and lemon juice.
Treacle wasn’t invented until the 1880’s so treacle tart is a relatively new dessert. The tart is actually based on a much older recipe!
In the U.S. we don’t have a substitute for treacle, a.k.a golden syrup.
In the U.K. you can find Lyle’s Golden Syrup in almost any grocery store. Here in the U.S., it’s a little trickier to find. Some larger grocery stores carry it. I’ve also found it at World Market and you can order it from Amazon.
How to Make this Treacle Tart Recipe:
- Make the tart dough – I used a food processor but you can make the dough by hand if you don’t have one. TIP: If making by hand freeze the butter until hard and then grate the butter into the flour and mix with your fingers.
- Pat the dough into the tart pan – No rolling required.
- Make the filling.
- Bake – Pour the filling into the par-baked tart shell and bake until done.
Step #1 – Process crust ingredients Step #2 – pat into a tart pan. Step #3 – Make the filling. Step #4 – Bake and serve.
Other British Isles Recipes:
- Plumcot Tipsy Trifle
- Cock a leekie soup
- Orange Ginger Oatmeal Crisps
- Irish Brown Bread
- Guinness Beer Bread
Love this recipe? I would be so happy if you rated it!
Cheers! Nancy
Treacle Tart
Ingredients
For shortbread crust”
- 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. all purpose flour
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 7 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 – 2 Tablespoons water optional
For the Treacle Tart Filling:
- 1 cup Lyle’s golden syrup
- 6 Tablespoons fresh breadcrumbs
- 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- zest of one lemon
- 2 eggs
- 3 Tablespoons heavy cream
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
For the shortbread crust:
- Add the flour, butter, sugar and salt to the bowl of a food processor and process until the mixture resembles wet sand, about 3 minutes.
- Test the mixture with your fingers. When pressed it should hold together. If not, add 1 Tablespoon of water and mix again for 10 seconds.
- Dump the dough into a 10 inch removable bottom tart pan and press into the sides and along the bottom.
- Lightly cover and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the tart shell for 15 minutes or until it is light golden brown.
For the Treacle Tart filling:
- Pre heat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the treacle bottle into a bowl of hot water to warm.
- Add the breadcrumbs to a bowl and drizzle the treacle over. Stir briefly to combine.
- In another bowl, add the eggs, cream, lemon juice, zest and salt. Whisk to combine.
- Add the egg mixture to the breadcrumb and treacle mixture. Mix until just combined. Pour into the prepared tart shell. Bake for 20 – 30 minutes or until the filling is set.
- Remove the tart from the oven and let cool. Slice and serve!
Notes
- Lyle’s golden syrup can be found in some larger grocery stores. Cost Plus World Market also carries it as does Amazon!
- If you can’t find Lyle’s golden syrup, you could substitute honey. Karo syrup doesn’t have enough flavor to work in this recipe.
- This tart is lovely on it’s own, but you could also serve it with a bit of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
- You can store the tart, covered in the refrigerator for up to two days. Let come to room temperature before serving.
Deborah says
October 10, 2018 at 12:55 pmThis tart sounds good. Could you use Karo syrup?
Nancy says
October 10, 2018 at 2:12 pmHi Deborah! I wouldn’t recommend Karo simply because it lacks the flavor of the golden syrup. Honey is closer to golden syrup in flavor but it doesn’t have the caramel flavor that golden syrup does. If you don’t want to order it from Amazon, I did find this tutorial on how to make it from regular sugar. I haven’t tried it myself, but it should work! http://www.internationaldessertsblog.com/make-golden-syrup/ Let me know how it turns out!!!
Valentina says
October 11, 2018 at 9:22 pmI’ve never heard of this. Must have missed it while watching Harry Potter. 🙂 I love that caramel-y flavor so I’m sure to love this!
Ellen says
November 21, 2018 at 10:46 amHow many eggs?
Nancy says
November 21, 2018 at 11:40 amHi Ellen! It is two!! Clearly I need a proof reader! Happy Thanksgiving!!
Karissa says
May 10, 2019 at 9:26 amDo I bake the tart crust before and let it cool before putting in the filling? Or do I put the filling in just the chilled tart dough?
Nancy says
May 10, 2019 at 2:09 pmHi Karissa,
Yes! You need to par-bake the crust for about 15 minutes before filling and baking the tart! I went back into the recipe card and broke out that step so hopefully it is clearer! I hope you enjoy the tart!!!
Cynthia | What A Girl Eats says
January 27, 2019 at 3:46 pmI haven’t had treacle tart for ages! Yours looks beautiful! Pinned! <3
Jaime says
March 26, 2019 at 11:36 amCan I use 1/2 & 1/2 in place of heavy cream?
Nancy says
March 26, 2019 at 11:58 amHi Jaime!
Half and half should work fine!!! Thank you for asking. Now, off to add that note to the recipe!
Jaime says
March 28, 2019 at 1:15 pmCan I use a 9” baking pan? Will it change the baking time?
Nancy says
March 29, 2019 at 5:43 pmHi Jaime!
Definitely and to be honest, the dough for the crust won’t fill the pan. So what I would recommend is to increase the recipe (for both the crust and filling) by 25%. By doing this, the bake time should be the same!