Treacle Tart

Treacle Tart

Does 1.25 litres of golden syrup sound like a lot to you? It does to me, but that's how much goes into this treacle tart recipe from The Fox Inn in Corscombe, Dorset. That's almost three of those green golden syrup tins from Lyle's. You know, the ones that look like mini tins of paint and the only way to get in to them is to lever a screwdriver under the lip of the lid. Three of them. If you don't fancy knackering your teeth, then a search of the web provides alternative recipes with less filling, but sod it, make this and invite all your neighbours over for a syrup fest (maybe not Hilda from No.43 – she'll never get her dentures apart again). The recipe from The Gastropub Cookbook says serves 4-6. Please ignore this if you don't want to have a coronary. Just look at the monster in the photo above – and then imagine having a quarter of that in one sitting. Madness.

Ingredients:
For the pastry:
225g plain flour
115g unsalted butter, chilled and diced
1 medium egg yolk
40ml cold water

For the filling:
1.25 litres golden syrup
1 unwaxed lemon, zest and juice
1 medium egg
225g coarse white breadcrumbs

Method:
1. First make the pastry. Put the flour and butter in a food processor and whizz until breadcrumbs.
2. Mix in the egg yolk and cold water to make a stiff dough. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/gas 3. Spoon the syrup into a bowl. Add the remaining filling ingredients and stir well. The lemon stops the tart from being too sweet.
4. Lightly butter a 23cm tart dish. Roll out the pastry into a circle 3mm thick and 5cm bigger than the dish. Lift the pastry into the dish and push gently to fit.
5. Add the tart mixture and trim any excess pastry. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until the tart is golden. Serve hot or cold with cream or crème fraîche (I preferred the tart completely cool).