Treacle Tart

If Harry Potter says treacle tart is the best dessert ever, of course I'm going to listen to him, he’s Harry Potter! I'm very comfortable admitting I am a big fan of the Harry Potter series, not only are they excellent books, the food described in them is swoon worthy.

I found the Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook last year while I was on holidays in Washington. I was so excited when I found it, I remember walking around the rest of the store with it clutched tightly against my chest just in case someone tried to wrestle it from me. It could happen! The book and I got home safely and thought I’ve spent a long time reading through it, this is the first time I’ve ever made something from it. I have big plans to eventually make an entirely Harry potter themed feast, so am very happy to begin trialling the recipes.

Merlin's beard this is a tasty tart, it's similarly sweet and chewy to a pecan pie. I had never tried or even seen treacle tart before so I didn't really know what to expect, the filling was more solid than I had imagined, with a deliciously sweet, sightly lemony flavour. My favorite part of this recipe is the pastry, I think it may be the nicest I have ever made, the vanilla extract adds a whole other level of yum.

No wonder this is Harry Potter's favorite dessert, It made a lovely after dinner treat served with some whipped cream. I think tomorrow night I may do what the book suggests and try it with some warm custard.

On a somewhat related note, in the last month or so there have been an alarming number of people coming in asking to have the dark mark tattooed on them, scary scary, He who must not be named follower's are growing. Eeep! :)
Enjoy.


Tart Crust

2 ½ cups plain flour
1 cup confectioners sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 sicks cold butter (cubed)
2 cold large egg yolks
1/3 cup cold heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

To make the crustt- place the flour, confectioners sugar and salt into a bowl. Scatter the pieces of butter over the flour. Rub together the flour, sugar and butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Beat together the egg yolks, cream and vanilla and pour over the flour mixture, toss all ingredients with a spatula until the dough clumps together. If the dough is to dry add one more tablespoon of cream.

Divide the dough in half, form into disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Just before you are ready to roll out the dough, make the filling and preheat oven to 200°c.

Filling

1 cup golden syrup
2 ¼ cups fresh breadcrumbs
Grated zest and juice of one lemon
1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon of water (for brushing over crust)

To make the filling- Warm the golden syrup in a sauce pan until runny. Combine the golden syrup, breadcrumbs, lemon juice and lemon zest in a bowl, mix well until combined.


To make the tart- On a floured surface or between sheets of baking paper roll the first disk of dough into an 11 inch circle.

Line a greased 9 inch tart pan with the dough, gently press into the fluted edges. Trim away any excess pastry.

Roll out the remained half of the dough into a disk about 1/8 inch thick. Cut the dough into inch wide strips for the lattice topping.

Scrape the filling into the prepared tart crust and smooth over with a spatula.


Lay half the strips of pastry over the top of the tart in one direction and the other half in the opposite direction to form a lattice.



Trim the edges and gently brush the top of the pastry with the egg wash.


Bake the tart for ten minutes at 200°c, reduce the temperature to 180°c and continue baking for another 25 minutes until the crust is browned and the filling puffs up in the centre.


Serve with warm custard, cream or ice-cream.