Treacle tart with a hint of orange

For me, a treacle tart is the epitome of comfort food, especially with the nights drawing in and the temperature outside dropping of an evening!

treacle tart with a hint of orange

Post updated Feb 2020: new photos

This rich, sticky tart has just a hint of orange in both the pastry and the filling, and is a version of a recipe I have been making for decades. It has a lovely chewy crust and a gooey filling – which is surely what you want in a treacle tart?

I think this tart is perfect served warm, with either cold pouring cream or a hot custard, into which a little orange zest and a splash of Cointeau have also been added! You can add a little ground ginger or cinnamon to the filling but subtlety with the spices is what you need. You can also omit the orange completely for a more traditional treacle tart.

How many calories?

The calories are certainly not hiding from this tart, but as with my more indulgent bakes you would not be eating it that often: and when you do, you really don’t need huge slices.

This tart freezes very well indeed once made, so you don’t need to feel as if you are eating treacle tart continuously for a week!

treacle tart with a hint of orange

Crumbs!

I used some left-over sweet sourdough bread in the filling (I often freeze ends of bread for using as breadcrumbs at a later stage), but any bread, blitzed into crumbs, work very well in this tart; I have made it with a mixture of wholemeal and sourdough before: a great combination!

Recipe for treacle tart with a hint of orange: makes one deep 8″ tart

treacle tart with a hint of orange

Orange-flavoured pastry:

• 200g plain flour
• 40g caster sugar
• finely grated zest of a small orange
• pinch of salt
• 100g unsalted butter, roughly cubed
• 1 egg yolk
• cold water to mix

Filling:

• 600g golden syrup
• 150g unsalted butter
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 50ml double cream
• grated zest and juice of a large orange plus the juice of the small orange used in the pastry
• 180g fine breadcrumbs (or use gluten-free bread for the crumbs)

To finish (optional):

• icing sugar
• 1 teaspoon of dried orange powder,
• finely grated orange zest (or caramelised zest chopped finely)

(1) Make the pastry and blind bake it: full details on how to do this are on my earlier shortcrust pastry post.

(2) Heat the syrup until it is runny enough to pour easily and mix it with the other filling ingredients. Pour the treacle mixture into the tart case and bake at 140C(fan) for 50-60 minutes, turning the temperature down to 130C if the top is becoming too dark.

(3) Remove from the heat and leave to cool somewhat. Dust with a mixture of icing sugar and orange powder, if desired. Scatter over the orange zest, if using. Serve warm, with custard or pouring cream.

treacle tart with a hint of orange

Author: Philip

Finalist on Britain’s Best Home Cook (BBC Television 2018). Published recipe writer with a love of growing fruit & veg, cooking, teaching and eating good food. View all posts by Philip