• Cake in the house Treacle tart
A warm and sticky treacle tart is happiness in a tin on a wintry day
TREACLE TART WITH THYME & ORANGE Serves 8–10
725g golden syrup 1 egg 50ml double cream 50g unsalted butter Zest of 1 orange 2 tsp thyme leaves, chopped, plus an extra sprig to decorate 200g white breadcrumbs
for the pastry
45g icing sugar 170g plain flour 85g butter, cubed and chilled 1 tbsp iced water 2 eggs
1 To make pastry, combine icing sugar and plain flour in a medium bowl. Rub in the chilled butter cubes until mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs (or use food processor). Add iced water and 1 egg and stir through.
2 Tip out dough and bring it together with your hands, kneading lightly to a smooth finish. Wrap pastry tightly in cling film and place in fridge for at least 30 mins.
3 Preheat oven to 180C/Fan 160C/Gas 4. On a floured surface, roll out pastry to 2mm thick. Grease and flour a 22cm loosebottomed tart tin (ideally 3cm deep), then lay over the pastry, tucking into the corners and leaving an overhang. Line pastry case with baking parchment and baking beans.
4 Blind bake the pastry for 25 mins, then remove the paper and beans, trim the overhang and brush the pastry with the remaining egg (beaten). Return to the oven for 10 mins, until the base is just colouring. Remove and set aside, but leave oven on.
5 To make the filling, pour the golden syrup into a medium pan set over a low heat. Whisk the egg and cream together in a bowl. When the syrup is hot, but not boiling, stir in the butter and allow it to melt.
6 Next, stir in the orange zest, chopped thyme, breadcrumbs, then the cream and egg mixture. Take the pan off the heat and let it stand for 5 mins, to allow the breadcrumbs to take up the syrup.
7 Pour the filling into the pastry case and bake for 35–40 mins, until just set and golden brown around the edges. Leave to cool in the tin for 15–20 mins before removing from to cool fully. Decorate with reserved thyme sprig.