TREACLE RUM RECIPES

Steps:

• Grease a 1litre/1¾ pints pudding basin with butter. Put the golden syrup in to the bottom of the basin.
• In a separate bowl, using an electric hand whisk, mix the flour, baking powder, butter, eggs, sugar and treacle until well combined.
• Pour the mixture into the basin and cover with a piece of greaseproof paper.
• Take a piece of tin foil and make a pleat down the middle, then place this over the top of pudding basin and tie it in place like a lid. The pleat allows the foil to expand during cooking.
• Place an upturned saucer or a ramekin in a deep saucepan and sit the pudding on top. Add boiling water until it comes half-way up the basin. Place a lid on the pan and simmer gently to stream the pudding for about 2¼ hours, topping up the water as necessary.
• To check if the pudding is cooked, insert a metal skewer into the pudding. If it comes out clean it is ready.
• Carefully remove the pudding from the pan. Loosen the edges by running a table knife around the pudding and turn out onto a plate.

Steps:

• First make the shortcrust pastry: measure the flour into a large bowl and rub in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs (alternatively, this can be done in a food processor). Add about three tablespoons of cold water and mix to a firm dough, wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for about 20 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6 and put a heavy baking tray in the oven to heat up. Grease a deep 18cm/7in loose-bottomed fluted flan tin with butter.
• Remove about 150g/5½oz of pastry from the main ball and set aside for the lattice top.
• Roll the rest of the pastry out thinly on a lightly floured work surface and line the prepared flan tin with the pastry.
• Prick the base with a fork, to stop the base rising up during baking.
• Place the reserved pastry for the lattice top on cling film and roll out thinly. Egg wash the pastry and set aside to chill in the fridge (the cling film makes it easier to move about). Do not cut into strips at this stage. Do not egg wash the strips once they are on the tart as it will drip into the treacle mixture.
• To make the filling, heat the syrup gently in a large pan but do not boil.
• Once melted, add the breadcrumbs, lemon juice and zest to the syrup. (You can add less lemon if you would prefer less citrus taste.) If the mixture looks runny, add a few more breadcrumbs. Pour the syrup mixture into the lined tin and level the surface.
• Remove the reserved pastry from the fridge and cut into long strips, 1cm/½in wide. Make sure they are all longer than the edges of the tart tin.
• Egg wash the edge of the pastry in the tin, and start to make the woven laying lattice pattern over the mixture, leave the strips hanging over the edge of the tin.
• Once the lattice is in place, use the tin edge to cut off the strips by pressing down with your hands, creating a neat finish.
• Bake on the pre-heated baking tray in the hot oven for about 10 minutes until the pastry has started to colour, and then reduce the oven temperature to 180C/350F/Gas 4. If at this stage the lattice seems to be getting too dark brown, cover the tart with tin foil.
• Bake for a further 25-30 minutes until the pastry is golden-brown and the filling set. Remove the tart from the oven and leave to firm up in the tin. Serve warm or cold.