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cake crumb treacle tart
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Cake Crumb Treacle Tart

This treacle tart is a twist on a classic! The filling's made with cake crumbs, sour cream & lemon, to cut through the sweetness.
Prep Time1 hour
Cook Time1 hour 10 minutes
Total Time2 hours 10 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: British, English
Servings: 10 People
Author: Ben Racey

Equipment

  • 9" Tart Tin
  • Ceramic Baking Beans
  • Food Processor
  • Sieve
  • Rolling Pin
  • Veg Peeler

Ingredients

Pastry

  • 250 g Plain Flour
  • 160 g Unsalted Butter (Chilled & Cut Into Small Pieces)
  • 80 g Icing Sugar
  • ½ tsp Table Salt
  • 45 g Egg Yolk
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Paste
  • 1 Egg Yolk (Lightly Beaten, For Blind Baking)

Filling

  • 250 g Day Old Cake (See Notes)
  • 420 g Golden Syrup
  • 100 g Black Treacle
  • 1 Lemon (Zested)
  • 2 tbsp Lemon Juice
  • ½ tsp Sea Salt
  • 150 g Sour Cream
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Paste
  • 2 Large Eggs
  • 1 Egg Yolk

Instructions

Pastry

  • Sift the flour, icing sugar & salt into a mixing bowl then add in the butter. Rub in with your fingers until the mix resembles breadcrumbs with some large pieces of butter still visible.
  • Stir together the egg yolk & vanilla then add to the flour.
  • Mix together until the pastry starts to come together then tip out onto a clean work surface & gently knead until you have a smooth dough (be careful not to overwork), flatten into a disc, wrap in clingfilm & chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
  • Next, place the chilled pastry onto a lightly floured worksurface & roll out to a thickness of 3mm-4mm.
  • Pick the pastry up using a rolling pin, drape over the tart tin & carefully mould into the tin. Using some of the overhanging pastry, rolled into a ball to press the pastry into the sides of the tin works best.
    Don't worry about trimming the excess pastry off, we'll be doing this after blind baking.
  • Prick the base with a fork then chill the pastry case in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours but overnight is best.

Blind Baking

  • Preheat an oven to 170°c/150°c fan (340°f/300°f).
  • Make a large cartouche out of baking parchment, scrunch it up then place inside your pastry case. Fill the parchment with baking beans then bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until the top of the pastry case is starting to turn golden brown & the edges have set.
    Make sure to bake the tart on a tray, to catch any excess pastry. Be careful not to remove the parchment too early, as this can cause the pastry to tear.
  • Remove the baking beans & parchment & return the case to the oven & cook until the case is a light golden brown all over, roughly 5-10 minutes.
  • Brush the base of the cooked case with the beaten egg yolk & cook for another minute – this will seal any holes in the pastry & prevents the filling from leaking.
  • Remove the pastry case from the oven then leave to cool completely. Once cool, use a veg peeler to trim the sides of the pastry case level with the top of the tin. Discard any excess pastry.

Filling

  • Turn your oven down to 160°c/140°c fan (320°f/285°f).
  • Place the cake into a food processor & blitz into coarse crumbs then set aside.
  • Next, place the golden syrup, black treacle, lemon zest & juice and salt into a large saucepan then set over a low heat. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring regularly, until the syrup is runny but not hot.
  • Take the pan off the heat & whisk in the sour cream & vanilla, followed by the eggs & yolk. Switch to a spatula & stir in the cake crumbs.
  • Pour the filling into the tart case then bake for 35-40 minutes, until set with a slight wobble.
  • Once cooked, leave to cool in the tin to room temperature then place in the fridge to set fully (overnight is best).
  • To portion, carefully remove the tart from the tin & cut into 10 equal pieces, using a hot, clean knife for each cut (running the knife under hot water & drying off between cuts works best).

Notes

1. To Cook In An Aga - Blind bake the tart on the floor of the baking oven. Bake the filling in the baking oven, on the bottom set of runners.
2. Cake Crumbs - This treacle tart works best with day old cake crumbs. I used sour cream pound cake (minus the icing!) but Madeira cake or Victoria sponge will work as well.
3. Trimming Excess Pastry – I’ve found that it’s best to trim off the excess pastry after blind baking. This is best done with a veg peeler.
4. Storage – Kept in the fridge, this tart will last for 2-3 days.
5. Reheating – Treacle tart is best reheated in a microwave or in a low temperature oven. Be careful not to overheat as the slices of tart could lose their shape.