Treacle Tarts Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is a treacle tart made of? ›

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.

Treacle (/ˈtriːkəl/) is any uncrystallised syrup made during the refining of sugar. The most common forms of treacle are golden syrup, a pale variety, and black treacle, a darker variety similar to molasses. Black treacle has a distinctively strong, slightly bitter flavor, and a richer color than golden syrup.

Production: Treacle and molasses are types of sweet syrup that form during the sugar-refining process. To make the syrups, manufacturers extract juice from sugar cane and sugar beets, boil it to produce sugar crystals, and remove the sucrose crystals to preserve the remaining liquid (molasses or treacle).

Golden syrup, also called bakers molasses or light treacle, has a golden colour and intensely sweet, butterscotch-like flavour. It is about 25 percent sweeter than regular sugar. ⁠ Treacle is a darker version of golden syrup and is sometimes called dark or black treacle.

Molasses. Black treacle is often the British counterpart to North America's molasses. The two are similar in color and viscosity and used in the same way. Black treacle is a blend of cane molasses and invert sugar syrup.

Honey: Similar in color, taste, and texture to golden syrup, honey is a good substitute for treacle. Look for a thick amber honey, rather than a super-light honey. Use the same amount of honey as you would golden syrup in a recipe.

Basically, treacle is the British term for molasses. Dark or black treacle is a product of refining sugar. Golden syrup, also called treacle, contains molasses, corn syrup and some other additives.

More commonly known as treacle or black treacle or, in the US as blackstrap molasses, molasses are essentially what is left over after cane sugar is boiled to produce sugar and most of the sugar has been extracted.

I believe it comes from “Treacle Tart” (a popular sweet dessert) rhyming with “Sweetheart”. Thus it's an endearment, like “love” or “darling”.

However, colonial Americans often substituted molasses for treacle in their recipes.

Which is better molasses or treacle? ›

Both have a deep, aromatic flavour that adds a unique finish to food and drink recipes, but they are subtly different, with treacle tending to be a sweeter product that has less of a bitter profile than molasses.

In the U.S., golden syrup is usually sold under the name of light treacle, but it's not readily available in many grocery stores. In cooking recipes, molasses and light treacle are often used interchangeably because their textures and flavor profiles are similar.

'Sweetheart' in co*ckney rhyming slang.

The high molasses content of black treacle means it contains nutrients and minerals as well as making it dark, rich and thick. It is also a natural humectant, meaning it stabilises the water content in foods, preserving them for longer and keeping them moist.

Yes, black treacle or molasses does have an expiration date. I read that it does have a shelf life of two years after opening. Any syrups will grow mold. If you look on the lid of the Molasses/ black treacle can/ jar, the expiration date is usually four years from the manufactured date.

With an intense flavour, dark colour and bitter-sweet taste, black treacle is widely used in industrial food applications such as Christmas puddings, treacle tarts, fruit cakes, parkin and gingerbread. Its distinctive properties make it a core functional ingredient of liquorice sweets and treacle toffee.

The short answer is no. Honey, golden syrup, treacle, molasses and maple syrup are different things. Honey and maple syrup are the most natural products but it is rather rare to find 100 per cent Irish honey; most commercial honeys are a blend of Irish and European products.

Treacle, also known as molasses or dark caramel is technically a byproduct of refining sugar by boiling the raw juice. This uncrystallized syrup is thick and dark and has many uses in flavouring food. From being added to cakes and bakes, it finds its uses in sauces and marinades and other sweets too.