A Very Harry Christmas, Day 4: Treacle Tart

I've never tried anything "treacle" in my life, but my Mister has.  He served a mission for our church and was called to serve in the Scotland mission for 2 years when he was a young'n.  He loves treacle, having never tried it but knowing he loves it made my fingers come to a screeching halt when I was thumbing through my HP Cookbook.  Heavy cream, butter...lol...what could go wrong?!

Treacle Tart

Tart Crust
2 1/2 c. flour
1 c. confectioners' sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 sticks cold butter, cut into chunks
2 cold large egg yolks, reserve the whites
1/3 c. cold heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Filling
1 c. golden syrup or light molasses or corn syrup
2 1/4 c. fresh bread crumbs
Grated zest & juice of 1 lemon
1 egg beaten with 1 T. of water, for brushing the crust

For the crust, place the flour, confectioners' sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Scatter the pieces of butter over the mixture. Pulse until the mixture resembles a coarse yellow meal without any white powdery bits remaining, about 20 pulses. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl. Beat the egg yolks with cream and vanilla and pour them into the flour-butter mixture. Toss with a spatula until the dough clumps together. If the dough is too dry, add 1 more tablespoon of heavy cream (better too wet than too dry). Divide the dough in half, form into disks, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 2 hours or up to 3 days.

Just before you are ready to roll out the dough, prepare the filling. Warm the golden syrup in a saucepan until it is runny, or microwave it for 1 minute. Combine the golden syrup, breadcrumbs, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a mixing bowl and mix well.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. 

Remove the dough from the refrigerator. On a floured surface, roll out the larger disk into an 11-inch circle.  (I have a wonderful granite rolling pin, the heavier the pin with this dough, the better.  Right out of the fridge its hard.  Keep on the flour!!) Fold it into quarters, brush off excess flour with a pastry brush after each fold, then unfold it into a 9-inch tart pan, easing the sides gently into the pan and pressing the dough down into the fluted edges. Trim the dough even with the rim. Roll out the second disk 1/8-inch thick. Cut the dough into long strips for the lattice topping. ( Skipped the fiddling around with lattice and went with a more fun way to do it...star cut outs!  Its Christmas...why not?)

Scrape the filling into the prepared crust and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Lay half the strips of dough over the filling in one direction and the other half in the opposite direction to form a lattice. Trim the overhang. Gently brush the beaten egg over the lattice.

Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 375°F and bake for another 25 minutes until the crust is browned and the filling puffs up in the center. 

Serve the tart warm with custard or whipped cream.

Dough pressed into shell, not hard at all.  I promise!

Before baking...

After!

 Ready to eat!  Mmmmm.....

I have never had treacle, but I am in love!  I didn't enjoy it warm, but the next morning at room temperature with some loverly whipped cream.... *swooooooon*  When it was warm I couldn't taste the lemon...I couldn't taste much of anything except the crust.  Once the flavors had a chance to marry and settle overnight, it was magic in my mouth!!  If I was making this for just myself, I would love to try orange zest and juice rather than lemon.  But again, as with the Dundee Cake from day 1, I was shocked at how light this tart is even though there is heavy cream, egg yolks and so much sugar.  Give it a try, I do believe you'll fall in love just like I did!