Treacle tart explained

Treacle tart
Place Of Origin:	United Kingdom
Course:	Dessert
Served:	Hot or warm
Main Ingredient:	Shortcrust pastry, golden syrup, breadcrumbs, lemon juice

Treacle tart is a traditional British dessert. The earliest known recipe for the dessert is from English author Mary Jewry in her cookbooks from the late 19th century.^[1]

Desserts

It is prepared using shortcrust pastry, with a thick filling made of golden syrup (also known as light treacle), breadcrumbs, and lemon juice or zest. The tart is normally served hot or warm with a scoop of clotted cream, ordinary cream, ice cream, or custard. Some modern recipes add cream, eggs, or both in order to create a softer filling.

Treacle bread^[2] is a homemade bread popular in Ireland and is similar to soda bread but with the addition of treacle.

In popular culture

• "Treacle tart" is Cockney rhyming slang for "sweetheart".^[3]
• In the Agatha Christie murder mystery novel 4.50 from Paddington, a homeowner's son, home visiting from boarding school with a friend, is said to be particularly fond of treacle tart.^[4]
• This dessert is mentioned in the 1968 British fantasy film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The villainous Child Catcher, in an attempt to lure out the children from the basement, calls out that he is giving away free sweets, including treacle tarts.^[5]
• In the Harry Potter book series, Harry's favourite food is treacle tart, a dessert often found at the Hogwarts feasts.^[6]
• It narrowly defeated the Pecan Pie in the Pie-Off during episode 108 of the Dave Dameshek Football Program.^[7]
• In Season 3 Episode 1 of Downton Abbey, the dessert is featured at the servant's lunchtime, where Carson exclaims, "That treacle tart hit the spot, thank you Mrs. Patmore".^[8]

See also

• Butter tart
• List of pies, tarts and flans
• Sugar pie

Further reading

• Treacle tart recipe by Heston Blumenthal from Times Online (Paid subscription required)
• Treacle tart recipe by Nigel Slater from The Guardian

Notes and References

1. Book: Jewry. Mary. Warne's Model Cookery: With Complete Instructions in Household Management and Receipts. 1899. F. Warne. London. 578.
2. News: Treacle Bread with Sultanas Recipe Odlums. Odlums. 2017-12-18. en-GB.
3. Web site: Treacle Tart is Cockney Rhyming Slang for Sweetheart!. Cockneyrhymingslang.co.uk. 2017-12-18.
4. "Audiobooks" 1:37:58 as read by Rosemary Leach. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
5. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/oct/14/chittychitty-bangbang-flies-again-review "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again"
6. https://www.theguardian.com/books/little-library-cafe/2016/may/19/food-in-books-the-treacle-tart-in-harry-potter-and-the-philosophers-stone "Food in books: the treacle tart in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone"
7. Web site: DDFP 108: Niners QB battle and the pie-off! « NFL Dave Dameshek Blog . 2012-11-28 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20121128050259/http://davedameshek.nfl.com/2012/11/20/ddfp-108-niners-qb-battle-and-the-pie-off/ . 2012-11-28 .
8. News: Caitlin Moran on TV: Downton Abbey is all over the 1920s . 28 June 2022 . The Times.