Pumpkin Pie Treacle Tart

Pumpkin pie combined with treacle tart to make the ultimate Thanksgiving dessert! The classic treacle filling is flavoured with pumpkin, brown butter and warming spices.

I’ve taken a classic treacle tart and combined it with a spiced pumpkin pie to make what is in my opinion, the perfect Autumn and Thanksgiving dessert. This tart has the texture and appearance of a British treacle tart but the flavour of an American pumpkin pie. The filling’s rich, squidgy and treacly, with a lightly spiced pumpkin flavour. There’s brown butter in there too for extra nuttiness, plus tangy sour cream and sharp lemon, to cut through all of the sweetness.

This dessert takes inspiration from a pumpkin pie for the crust too. Where a regular treacle tart is made in a tart case, using shortcrust pastry, this variation is made with a flaky pie crust, in a deep pie dish. This means you get more filling per slice and the crisp, flaky texture of the pastry works fantastically with the gooey filling.

Serve your pumpkin pie treacle tart with something creamy like vanilla ice cream, warm custard, clotted cream or pouring cream and you’re onto a real winner. And as it needs to set in the fridge before serving, it’s the ideal dessert to prepare ahead of time.

This dessert is perfect for the holidays! For even more Thanksgiving recipes, take a look at our Thanksgiving recipe collection. There’s all the classics here from roast turkey and prime rib, to potato casserole, creamed corn and lots more.

Pumpkin Pie Combined With Treacle Tart

Essentially, this dessert is a treacle tart that’s flavoured like a pumpkin pie. So it still has the texture of a classic treacle tart but there’s pumpkin puree and homemade pumpkin spice in the filling. It’s squidgy, treacly and rich, with a warming pumpkin flavour. I finish each slice with a pinch of sea salt, which gives it a salted caramel, spiced pumpkin flavour. Paired with the flaky pie crust, it’s really good!

Ingredients For Pumpkin Pie Treacle Tart

• Pumpkin – You’ll need tinned pumpkin for this tart. Not only is it convenient but it has less moisture than homemade pumpkin puree. I use America’s finest brand pumpkin but other brands of solid packed pumpkin puree will work too. This just means that the tin contains 100% pumpkin.
• Golden Syrup – The main ingredient of a classic treacle tart! Golden syrup is what gives the filling its signature buttery, caramel flavour. This can be found in most supermarkets.
• Black Treacle – Adding a small amount of black treacle to the filling adds a deeper, richer flavour. The slightly bitter flavour helps cut through the sweetness too. If you can’t get hold of treacle, molasses will work instead.
• Brown Sugar – Dark brown sugar is added to the filling for the same reason as the treacle. To add richness and a deep molasses flavour.
• Butter – I use brown butter for my treacle tart filling and I’ll be showing you how to make it. It’s super easy!
• Sour Cream – I like to use sour cream for my treacle tart filling instead of double cream, as the tangy flavour helps cut through the sweetness of the syrup.
• Eggs – You’ll need large eggs and an additional yolk for the filling. The whole eggs should weigh around 50 grams out of the shells.
• Pumpkin Spice – I make my own pumpkin spice but you can use a ready made one if you’d prefer.
• Brioche Breadcrumbs – I find that brioche makes the best breadcrumbs for treacle tart but regular white bread will work too.
• Lemon – The sharp flavour of lemon helps cut through the sweet, rich filling. I use the zest and a splash of the juice.
• Vanilla – A good quality vanilla extract adds extra flavour to the filling. Vanilla paste will work too.
• Pie Crust – I’ve included my flaky pie crust recipe which works perfectly for this pumpkin pie/treacle tart mash up. Feel free to use a different crust if you’d prefer though.

Homemade Flaky Pie Crust

Instead of using a shortcrust pastry crust like you would with a traditional treacle tart, I’ve opted for a crisp, flaky pie crust instead. As the filling is sweet, the crust doesn’t include any extra sugar and I make mine with a mix of butter and lard, for the perfect balance of flavour and flakiness. Feel free to use your favourite crust though, as long as it’s made in a 9″ pie dish that’s 1.5 inches deep.

As the pumpkin filling is baked at a low temperature, you will need to blind bake the pie crust first, otherwise it won’t be cooked fully. I do this at 200°c/392°f, as the higher oven temperature helps the pastry crisp up, without shrinking. Below is the process that I use for blind baking a pie crust, whether it’s for sweet or savoury pies. It’s key to chill the crust for at least 2 hours before baking but I often chill overnight and you’ll need to dock the base of the crust with a fork, to stop the pastry from puffing up in the oven.

1. Preheat an oven to 200°c/392°f. Place a large baking tray in the oven when you turn it on, so it can heat up with the oven. The pie dish will sit on the hot tray as the crust blind bakes.
2. Scrunch up a large piece of baking paper then use to line the inside of the pie crust. Fill the parchment up with baking beans (or uncooked rice).
3. Bake the crust (straight from the fridge) for 25-30 minutes, until the pastry is a light golden brown. If you carefully lift the parchment up, the pastry shouldn’t be stuck and should look dry on the surface.
4. Next, remove the parchment and baking beans then bake for another 4-6 minutes until the inside is a light golden brown as well.
5. Let the crust cool for a minute then brush a thin layer of egg yolk over the bottom and sides, to seal up any holes. Return to the oven and bake for 30 seconds, to set the yolk.
6. Once blind baked, set the crust to one side and turn the oven down. This treacle tart bakes at 160°c/320°f.

Pumpkin Pie Treacle Tart Filling

The filling for this tart is a cross between a classic British treacle tart and an American pumpkin pie. Though it leans more towards a treacle tart in texture, with the flavour of a pumpkin pie. There’s homemade pumpkin spice, brown butter and pumpkin puree in the mix, as well as the classic treacle tart components like golden syrup, black treacle and breadcrumbs. Plus sour cream and fresh lemon, to cut through the sweetness.

To make the pumpkin treacle filling, start by cooking butter in a pan, over a medium heat until browned. Then as soon as the brown butter is ready, take the pan off the heat and whisk in homemade pumpkin spice (ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, sea salt and black pepper), followed by golden syrup, black treacle, lemon zest and lemon juice. The syrup mix then needs to cool slightly.

Next, add pumpkin puree (from a tin) into a mixing bowl along with sour cream, brown sugar, eggs, an extra yolk and vanilla extract then whisk to combine. Gradually whisk in the brown butter syrup mix then stir in brioche breadcrumbs, to finish.

Now all that’s left to do is pour the filling into the blind baked pie crust then bake until it has set but with a very slight wobble in the centre. This will take 45-50 minutes at 160°c/320°f. Once baked, the tart needs to cool completely before being chilled overnight in the fridge, to set fully.

What To Serve With Pumpkin Pie Treacle Tart

As this treacle tart is made with pumpkin it’s not quite as sweet as a classic treacle tart but it still benefits from being served with something creamy, to cut through the sweet filling. My go-to treacle tart accompaniment is a scoop of vanilla ice cream but it’s equally as good with warm vanilla custard, clotted cream or pouring cream. Some softly whipped cream sweetened with maple syrup would be especially good!

If you’re serving your tart with ice cream like I did, here’s a handy restaurant trick. Blend some shortbread biscuits into a coarse crumb, add a small pile next to the tart then place the scoop of ice cream on top. The crumbs stop the ice cream from sliding around the plate.

Tips and Tricks

• Blind bake the pie crust, to ensure that it has a crisp, flaky texture and to avoid a soggy bottom!
• Chill the pie crust for at least 2 hours before baking, to prevent it from shrinking. I like to chill mine overnight.
• Brown the butter for the pie filling, to add an extra nutty, caramelised flavour.
• Add lemon zest and a splash of juice to the filling, to cut through the sweetness from the syrup.
• Let your tart chill in the fridge overnight, to ensure that the filling is completely set.
• Let slices of treacle tart sit out at room temperature for 20 minutes before serving. This is when the filling will have the best texture.
• Serve your pumpkin pie treacle tart with something creamy like ice cream, custard or pouring cream, to cut through the sweetness from the filling.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Desserts To Try

• Brown Butter Sticky Toffee Pudding
• Dark Chocolate Mousse
• Classic Cherry Pie
• Amaretto Tiramisu
• Brown Butter & Bourbon Pecan Pie
• Scoopable Vanilla Panna Cotta

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