Toe-warming whisky sour treacle tart

Names can be misleading. There’s no brandy in a snap, nothing canine about a hot dog (you hope), no toad in the hole. And no treacle in a treacle tart. I prefer it with the sweeter golden syrup. I also prefer it with a dram of whisky.

This is the most well-behaved pastry I know. I’d urge you to have a go with this recipe as it really is easy as pie… or rather tart. Of course shop-bought stuff is a fine substitute if you’d rather not. As for leftover scraps, roll them out, stamp into some shapes and bake as little pastry biscuits to be enjoyed with a cup of tea.

INGREDIENTS

250g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

50g icing sugar

125g butter, cold and cut into 2 cm cubes

1 large egg, beaten

1 lemon, finely zested and juiced

150g fresh breadcrumbs

400g golden syrup

10ml whisky

METHOD

Mix together the flour and icing sugar. Use your hands to rub the butter into the flour until it looks like very fine breadcrumbs. Using a blunt knife to mix, bind the mixture with the egg. Pull the pastry together, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, mix the zest with the breadcrumbs and set aside. Pour the golden syrup into a saucepan, add the lemon juice and the whisky then gently heat for a couple of minutes until the syrup has loosened and everything is well combined. Add the zesty breadcrumbs and stir well. Take off the heat and set aside to cool. Preheat the oven to 180°C about 15 minutes before the pastry has finished resting.

Roll the pastry out on a floured surface, working in one direction only (don’t roll backwards and forwards, this makes for tough pastry), picking it up and turning it after each few rolls to ensure you end up with a rough circle shape about 3 mm-thick and slightly larger than the tart tin. Pick it up by placing both hands flattened, fingers apart and palm side up, under the pastry circle and lift it into a 24 cm tart tin then push it gently into the sides.

Run a rolling pin over the top to remove any excess pastry. Line with a piece of baking paper and fill with baking beans, uncooked rice or pulses and bake for 10 minutes. When the edges are starting to very lightly brown, remove the paper and beans and bake for 2 minutes to ensure the bottom is completely crisp. Remove from the oven, spoon in the filling and level with the back of a spoon. If you want, you can decorate the top with anything you fancy made from the leftover pastry. Bake for another 15–20 minutes. I like to eat this hot with clotted cream ice cream but it’s also very good with custard.

IDEAS FOR A JUICELESS, ZESTLESS LEMON

Waste not, want not – stuff into a whole chicken along with an onion and a couple of uncrushed garlic cloves, massage a little olive oil into the skin and roast in the oven at 180°C, time dependent on weight. Or add to boiling water and drink as a breakfast cleanser after one too many whisky nightcaps.

#normalmum #treackle #tart #tert