Treacle tart

Treacle tart is a quintessentially English dessert which has been knocking around since the late 1800's in various forms and is one of my childhood favourites. It is unbelievably sweet and hideous for ones waistline, however a little indulgence once in a while never hurt anyone!

Ingredients

Case: 10oz plain flour, 5oz cold unsalted butter, splash cold water. 

Filling: 450g golden syrup, 100g fresh breadcrumbs (white or brown), 1 finely grated lemon zest, juice half a lemon, 1 tsp ground ginger, 1/2 tsp sea salt.

Pastry: using your fingertips quickly rub the butter in to the flour until it forms a crumb like texture. Use just enough cold water to bind it together to form a dough, knead briefly, however, do not overwork or it may become tough once baked.  Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

Preheat your oven to 180 celcius.  Butter a 9 inch pie dish, gently roll the pastry until it is large enough to cover the dish. Ease the pastry in to the dish ensuring you do not stretch it (as it shrinks back when cooking). Prick the base with a fork, trim the excess, and blind bake (just the case on its own) for 10 minutes. 

Filling: mix all filling ingredients together in a bowl stirring well to combine. 

Once the pastry case has been baking for 10 minutes, pour in the filling mixture and bake for a further 30 minutes. 

Leave to cool to room temperature and serve with ice cream or cream.