Treacle Tart is a classic and simple British tart that was quoted as “Harry Potter’s favorite dessert.” It’s super delicious and easy to make and makes for the perfect comforting dessert to pair with your next Harry Potter marathon!
Welcome to my Harry Potter series, where I will be creating HP-inspired desserts so that we can all live a little bit of our childhood in real life. ⚡
Check out the first three Harry Potter recipes from this year!
Treacle Tart is a truly English dessert. When you look at the ingredients, they seem quite odd – golden syrup, bread crumbs, crushed almonds, egg, and heavy cream. Technically, it’s meant to be a “peasant dish”, which is why it uses very simple ingredients.
However, the combination of these ingredients results in an ooey-gooey, delicious tart filling. The flavor is hard to explain; all I can say is that it tastes warm and comforting. Makes sense why it was Harry’s favorite dessert, so much so that he would smell its aroma from the love potion.
The base of the tart is made with a simple, four-ingredient shortcrust pastry. The thin, crisp pastry pairs perfectly with the gooey treacle filling.
Let’s go into the details of the tart pastry and filling.
The Shortcrust Pastry
The shortcrust pastry used for treacle tart is super simple to make. All you need is four ingredients – butter, icing sugar, egg, and flour.
Here are the steps to make the shortcrust pastry.
- Cream the room-temperature butter and sugar for 3-5 minutes until it’s well combined.
- Add the beaten egg to the butter mixture and mix for 2 minutes until it’s completely mixed in.
- Then gradually add the flour into the mixture while mixing on low speed until it forms a thick dough. Do not overmix at this step.
- Wrap the dough in cling film and chill for 1-2 hours until it’s not soft, then roll it out to 2mm thickness between two baking sheets.
- Line your tart pan with the dough, leaving an overhang on the sides as the dough will shrink while baking. Then poke a few holes at the base of the tart with a knife and let it chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Blind bake the tart for 15 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius, then remove it from the oven, remove the parchment and baking beans/rice, and give the tart an egg wash. Bake it again for 5 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove from oven and immediately cut any extra edges of the tart with a sharp knife.
The tart shell can be baked a day in advance.
How to blind bake a tart
Blind baking is the process of baking a tart before adding the filling and is done to ensure that the pastry is baked all the way through and does not become soggy when the filling is added.
As the tart shell is empty while blind baking, it’s recommended to add some weight on top of it to avoid any rise in the pastry. This can be done by placing a round baking paper on the base of the tart and filling it with baking beans or uncooked rice that will add weight to the pastry. The weight can be removed before the egg wash step.
How to line a tart pan
Lining a tart pan is probably the only tricky part of this recipe. If you haven’t done it before, it can be a little daunting. But don’t worry, as I am going to walk you through the process.
The first thing to know is the kind of tart pan you are using. You can either use the regular, fluted tart pan or use a perforated tart ring. I prefer using a tart ring as I find it easier to line and unmold. It also looks more professional. However, both work equally as well.
How to line a fluted tart pan
- Roll out the dough as instructed between two baking sheets, making sure it’s at least 5 inches wider than the base of your tart pan.
- Remove the top baking paper and place a cling film on the dough instead. Make sure the dough has stuck to the cling film properly, then pick it up carefully and place it on the tart pan. The cling film will ensure that the dough does not break during the transfer.
- Push the dough down carefully on the edges of the pan, pressing it down wherever required. Use your thumbs to shape it around the edges as best as possible. The dough is quite playable and can easily be molded. Make sure to leave a little overhang from the edges as the dough shrinks slightly while baking.
- If the dough feels too soft while shaping, place it in the fridge for a few minutes until it cools down.
How to line a perforated tart ring.
- Once the dough has been rolled out, push down the tart ring on it to cut out a circle for the base of the tart, then cut out vertical strips of the dough with a width slightly bigger than the height of the tart ring.
- Carefully place the strips on the inner round edges of the tart, and push them against the tart ring and the base to mold the dough into a tart shell. Make sure the sides have been joined with the base by pushing them together with your hands.
- If there are any patches, you can add more dough to cover them up. Make sure to leave an overhand at the edges as the pastry shrinks while baking.
The Treacle Tart Filling
As I mentioned earlier, the treacle tart filling is the simplest thing to make. All you need is five ingredients – golden syrup, bread crumbs, crushed almonds, egg, and heavy cream, and a hand whisk to make it.
How to make the Treacle Tart filling.
- Mix the golden syrup, bread crumbs, and crushed almonds in a bowl until when combined.
- Add the eggs and cream and mix again until you have a nice, runny filling.
- Transfer the filling to your pre-baked tart and bake it for 20-30 minutes until it’s set from the center.
- Serve with ice cream or custard, and enjoy!
Give this tart a try, and you’ll know exactly why Harry loved it so much!
Ready to get started? Let’s go!
PS: I always measure ingredients in grams, never in cups. Using a measuring scale is the only way to bake accurately. Cups are unreliable and can give different measurements, so I suggest you buy a measuring scale before you start baking! If you can’t get your hands on one, you can use the online tools for converting grams into cups; however, I do not guarantee their accuracy.
Treacle Tart
Equipment
- Electric or stand mixer
- Hand whisk
- 8-inch perforated tart ring or fluted tart pan
- Baking paper
- Baking beans/uncooked rice
Ingredients
Shortcrust Pastry
- 65 grams softened butter
- 40 grams icing sugar
- 1 egg, beaten separately
- 125 grams all-purpose flout
- Pinch of salt
- 1 egg for egg wash
Tart Filling
- 175 grams golden syrup
- 40 grams white bread crumbs
- 25 grams ground almonds
- 1 egg
- 50 ml heavy cream/liquid whipping cream
- Ice cream or custard optional, for topping
Instructions
Shortcrust Pastry
- Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl for 2-5 minutes until pale and fluffy. Add the beaten egg and mix until well combined.65 grams softened butter, 40 grams icing sugar, 1 egg, beaten separately
- On low speed, gradually add the flour and salt into the mixture until it forms a thick dough. Do not overmix at this step.125 grams all-purpose flout, Pinch of salt
- Wrap the dough in cling film and let it chill for one to two hours, until it’s not soft, then roll it out to 2mm thickness between two sheets of baking paper.
- Line your tart pan with the dough, making sure all the edges are covered. Leave an overhang of the dough from the edges as the pastry shrinks while baking. Poke holes into the base of the tart with a fork and let it chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and prepare the tart shell for blind baking by places a piece of round baking paper on the bottom of the tart shell and placing baking beans or uncooked rice on top of it.
- Bake the tart for 15-20 minutes, then remove the weight and baking paper from the bottom of the tart shell and give it an egg wash. Bake again for 5 to 10 minutes until the tart shell is golden brown. Cut any excess dough from the edges by running a sharp knife against the edge of the tart shell as soon as it comes out of the oven.1 egg
Tart Filling
- Reduce the oven temperature to 160 degrees Celsius for the filling.
- In a bowl, mix the golden syrup, bread crumbs, and ground almonds with a hand whisk until well combined.175 grams golden syrup, 40 grams white bread crumbs, 25 grams ground almonds
- Now add the egg and heavy cream and mix until fully combined.1 egg, 50 ml heavy cream/liquid whipping cream
- Transfer the filling into the prepared tart shell and bake for 20-30 minutes until it’s fully set.
- Serve warm with ice cream or custard.Ice cream or custard
Notes
I hope you are enjoying the Harry Potter series as much as I am. If you give this recipe a try, don’t forget to let me know how you liked it in the comments. And, of course, share it with me on Instagram.
Until next time!
