Recipe Numero Uno: Treacle Slice

Now, on to my first recipe!

A longtime friend of mine was hosting an Alice in Wonderland themed party on saturday, and not being one to miss out on an opportunity for baking, I decided to bring something along. Not just any old cake; it had to fit the theme.

TREACLE TART!

Or even better...

Nigella's Treacle Slice!!

This recipe comes from Kitchen, and I think it's quite fitting that recipe number one comes from this book, as this was the first book of Nigella's that I owned!

The recipe makes enough to fill a 30 x 20 x 5cm baking tin (or foil tray if you're giving it to someone as I did). It's actually pretty easy to make, and although it may not look beautiful, the taste is an absolute TOUR DE FORCE. Try it and see!

Ingredients:

For the base:
-200g plain flour

-50g soft unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing

-50g vegetable shortening (I used Trex, which is labelled as vegetable lard but I assumed they were the same. So shoot me.)
-1 tbsp lemon juice (reserve the zest of the whole lemon for the topping - and zest it BEFORE you cut it, makes life SO much easier)
-2 tbsp iced water

For the topping:
-1 x 454g tin golden syrup
-25g soft unsalted butter

-approx 150g fresh breadcrumbs, or around 550ml in a measuring jug (Nigella insists upon fresh breadcrumbs as the dried ones just won't be the same. And the weight is an approximation because, as she says, "there is no constant relationship between volume and weight, and it is the volume that matters". Words of wisdom; ignore at your peril.)

-zest of 1 lemon
-1 egg, beaten

Right, now for how to make it :)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4, or if you have a fan oven like me, 160C (you probably know why but just in case you don't, fan ovens are hotter and stronger so don't need to be as hot.) Line your baking tin with foil and grease, or grease your foil tray.

2. Put the flour, butter and vegetable shortening for the base into a food processor, and blitz until you have what Nigella calls a 'crumbly rubble', which I think is a pretty good description.

Here is my crumbly rubble:

And if you ask me that's some mighty fiiiiiiine crumbly rubble. (My advice is to cut the butter up small, especially if it's still a bit fridge-cold. That way it will mix up more easily)

3. Combine the lemon juice and iced water, and pour down the funnel whilst the processor is running until the mix clumps together making a dough.

4. Press this out into your tray.You may think, like I did when I ended up with a big bare patch, that there isn't enough dough. But there is, you've just been too generous. Spread the love (i.e. the dough), there IS enough for the whole tray. Would Nigella lie?

5. When the love is spread to a satisfactory level, bake this in the oven for 20 minutes.

6. Meanwhile, melt the golden syrup and the 25g of butter in a saucepan on a low heat. When combined, stir in the breadcrumbs, and then remove from the heat.

7. Allow to cool a little, and then mix in the lemon zest and egg. Word of warning - when you zest your lemon, please learn from my mistakes and REMOVE THE LABEL FIRST.



*Sigh* Rookie error...frankly I'm ashamed

 When the pastry base is ready, pour this crumby mixture over it (no need to let the base cool or anything first, just go for it), smooth over, and pop back in the oven for another 20 minutes.

When it's ready, the filling should be slightly risen and look dry around the edges, but still a bit damp and squidgy in the middle.

The recipe recommends that you eat this while it's still slightly warm, and tempted though I was, alas, I had to wait until the next day. If you are in the same sorry situation, let it cool to room temperature, and then wrap it in tin foil and keep in the fridge until you're ready to go.

I took it along with me to the party the next evening, along with Nigella's instructions to reheat it for about 20 minutes at 180C before serving.

HOWEVER

I did not anticipate the amount of food already provided at said party. Unfortunately the lovely hostess with the mostess made the executive decision not to serve my tart, on the grounds that everyone had eaten so much cake already it would not get the appreciation it deserved (I personally was up for some but, alas, not everyone in the world is as greedy as I.)

SO, ladies and gents, I do not yet have the photo I was planning on taking, of the a slice of the warm tart lovingly arranged on a plate, ready to be eaten, maybe with some cream on the side or something.

All is not lost - my friend has promised that when she does eat the tart, she will take a picture for me that I can put on here! But until then, you will have to live with a picture of the picture in the recipe book.

So we come to the end of recipe one. And it won't be long until the next one!

Thanks for reading!

Now go and make the tart :D