Harry Potter’s Treacle Tart

Note: You can also just use store-bought crust.

If making the pastry, cut butter into small cubes, place them in one layer on a plate and put them in the freezer for about 15 minutes. They should not be frozen but get really cold.

In the meantime, place 2/3 of the flour, sugar and salt in the food processor. Mix well. Add butter cubes and process shortly, about 25 short pulses or about 25 seconds with the Thermomix on level 4. The dough should just begin to clump. Sprinkle the remaining flour on top and pulse about 3-4 times or about 10 seconds on Thermomix on level 4 or until the dough is just barely broken.

Transfer mixture to a bowl. Sprinkle with 5 tablespoons of the very cold water and incorporate using a rubber spatula (make sure is a good one, I broke one of mine in the process, but it was a very old one). Fold and press the dough until it comes together. Add the last tablespoon of water if necessary (sometimes I do add it, sometimes not, it depends on how exactly you weigh the flour and sometimes on the brand of flour itself). The dough should hold together when you press a little bit of it between your fingers. Form a ball, divide it into two discs, one a bit larger than the other and wrap the discs tightly in plastic foil. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 200ºC (400ºF).

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the larger disc into a circle large enough to cover the bottom and the edges of your pie form. My pie form has a diameter of 23 cm or 9 inches, so I rolled the dough into a circle of about 26 cm or 10.2-inch diameter. My pie dish also has a removable bottom (like a springform), which makes things easier for me when removing the pie from the form. A regular dish works as well, but you will have to be more careful when taking the tart out of the form. Or use a ceramic pie dish, so you can cut and serve the tart directly from the dish.

Place the rolled out pastry sheet into your dish, pressing the dough into the fluted edges of the pan. Roll out the second disc of pastry into a circle of about 3 mm or 1/8-inch thickness and a diameter of about 23 cm or 9 inches. Cut the pastry into long strips for the lattice topping.

To make the filling, remove the crust from toast bread, measure the amount needed, and make breadcrumbs in your food processor. Zest and juice the lemon. Place the golden syrup into a small saucepan and warm gently until it is runny; it will not take long. Combine syrup, breadcrumbs, lemon zest and lemon juice well.

Pour the filling into the prepared pie dish and level the top. Lay half of the strips over the filling in one direction and the other half of the strips in the other direction to form a lattice. Trim the edges.

Mix the egg and the water and brush the lattice and the edges of the pie with the mixture.

Bake tart for 10 minutes at 200ºC or 400ºF, then reduce heat to 190ºC or 375ºF and continue baking for another 25 minutes until crust is golden brown and filling puffs up in the center.

Apparently, you should serve the tart warm with custard or whipped cream. We had it plain and I liked it even more the next day, when the tart was set and almost cookie-like. But that is a matter of taste. Serve it as you like best.