How to Make Treacle Tart, aka Harry Potter’s Favorite Dessert
Updated: Feb. 07, 2024
Made with golden syrup and lemon, it's no surprise that treacle tart was a favorite of "The Boy Who Lived."
If you’re not from Britain, a few of the things Harry, Ron and Hermione eat while dining in the Great Hall may not be familiar to you.
From steak and kidney pie to Yorkshire puddings, crumpets, English trifle and, for some reason, peppermint humbugs, the series is filled with classic British food. In the books, we also learn about treacle tart, which happens to be Harry’s favorite dessert. With a flaky, buttery crust and sugary filling made with golden syrup, treacle tart is worth baking. It would be perfect to serve at a Harry Potter-themed birthday party, too.
Keep reading to learn how to make the treacle tart that’s served at Hogwarts. Don’t forget the homemade butterbeer to serve with it!
What Is Treacle?
Treacle, more commonly known as golden syrup, is an uncrystallized syrup formed during sugar making. It’s essentially the British version of molasses. However, treacle tends to be thinner and sweeter than American molasses.
You can (in some cases) use these two different ingredients interchangeably in recipes with a bit of experimentation. But for Harry Potter’s treacle tart, stick with the homemade golden syrup to maintain the taste of the recipe.
What Does Treacle Tart Taste Like?
It tastes like a delightful custard-based pastry, similar to Lemon Bars but with the texture of Lemon Chess Pie. The tart filling, when served warm, is ooey-gooey like a pecan pie without the nuts. When chilled or at room temperature, treacle tart filling is sticky and slightly chewy, like homemade caramel.
How to Make Harry Potter’s Treacle Tart
This recipe is featured in The Official Harry Potter Baking Book. It makes one 9-inch tart.
Ingredients
- 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1-1/3 stick unsalted butter, cold and diced
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons water, cold (plus additional, if needed)
Filling:
- 2-3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 stick unsalted butter, diced (about 4 tablespoons)
- 3 lemons, juice and zest (approximately 1/3 cup of lemon juice)
- 1-1/2 cups fresh white bread crumbs
- 3 large eggs, beaten
Decoration:
- 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
Tools
To make treacle tart, you won’t need any of these fabulous Harry Potter-themed kitchen items, but you’ll want to grab a few kitchen basics. No trip to Diagon Alley required!
Directions
Don’t be intimidated by the many steps. Making a treacle tart is much easier than brewing Polyjuice potion (and no hair is required). Lucky for you, we’ve given the original recipe the “Half-Blood Prince” treatment and dissected every step of it into easy-to-follow directions with added notes and tips for success.
Step 1: Blend butter and flour
Use your fingers to work the cold butter into the flour until it resembles coarse crumbs. You could also use a pastry blender, one of the pastry tools that everyone should have on hand.
Step 2: Add wet ingredients and mix
Add the egg, sugar, and cold water to the mixture. Mix together until the dough begins to hold together when squeezed together with your hands. It should feel damp but be slightly crumbly.
Editor’s Tip: In testing, we found that we needed to add another 2-3 tablespoons of water to the dough to get it to hold together properly. Add a little at a time until the proper consistency is reached.
Step 3: Chill the dough
Shape the dough into a flattened disk that is 1-inch thick and wrap it tightly in plastic. Chill for 30 minutes.
Editor’s Tip: Hold your Hippogriffs. Don’t skip chilling the dough! This step helps the dough properly absorb the liquid, solidify the fat (for ultimate flakiness) and allow the gluten in the flour to relax (preventing a tough crust). It’s also important for making puff pastry.
Step 4: Roll the dough
Preheat the oven to 400°F with your rack in the lower third of your oven. When the dough is fully chilled, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a 12 to 13-inch circle. It should be roughly 1/4-inch thick.
Step 5: Line the pan
Drape the rolled-out crust into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Press and shape the crust into the tin and then trim away the excess to clean up the edges.
Step 6: Blind bake the crust
Line the unbaked crust with a crumpled piece of parchment and fill with pie weights (or dried beans). Blind bake the crust for 20 minutes until it begins to turn golden, then remove. Turn down the oven temperature to 350°.
Editor’s Tip: Blind baking is important because it ensures the crust will be fully baked and prevent the bottom from becoming soggy once the filling is added.
Step 7: Make the filling
Next, prepare the filling by dissolving the sugar and water together in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Gently warm the mixture, stirring occasionally until the sugar is dissolved, and the mixture begins to bubble. (This process is similar to making a wet-method homemade caramel.) Increase the heat and let the syrup cook until the syrup thickens and turns a deep amber color. Remove promptly or it will burn and become bitter.
Step 8: Flavor the filling
To the hot syrup, add the lemon zest, lemon juice and butter. Stir until fully incorporated. If the syrup seizes up and does not initially mix easily, you may put the pan back over low heat and gently warm the mixture until it is evenly combined.
Step 9: Add eggs and bread crumbs
Add the bread crumbs, then quickly add the eggs, whisking the filling quickly and consistently, so the eggs do not scramble.
Editor’s Tip: If you’re nervous about the eggs scrambling, you could try tempering the eggs with a few tablespoons of the hot filling before adding them to the saucepan. We were tempted to do so in testing; however, since the original recipe did not specify to do so, we bravely proceeded to add the eggs right to the filling.
Step 10: Fill and bake
Pour the filling into the prepared pastry crust and bake for 25-35 minutes until the filling is golden and lightly set.
Step 11: Cool and decorate
Cool completely, then dust with powdered sugar as desired. The Harry Potter Baking Book includes easy-to-use templates for easy decorating. Since treacle tart features bright yellow lemons, we felt the Hufflepuff badger was a fitting choice.
How to Serve Treacle Tart
Treacle tart can be enjoyed at any temperature. However, the traditional British way to tuck into this dessert is to serve it warm with clotted cream, whipped cream or even ice cream on top.
Here’s What I Thought
Merlin’s pants! Harry might be onto something because treacle tart is delicious. It’s incredibly rich, slightly chewy and loaded with a wonderful lemon flavor we cannot get enough of.
However, Harry should count his Galleons that he has magic to help him prepare this delectable but difficult British dessert.
If you’ve ever made a pie or quiche before, then you’ll have no trouble whatsoever with this crust. The filling, however, doesn’t leave much room to swing a broomstick if you’re a novice baker (or not a contestant on The Great British Baking Show).
Getting the syrup to the perfect deep amber color takes time and patience. If you rush it, the sugar will not be fully dissolved. Linger too long, and the syrup will burn and become bitter tasting. If this step makes you nervous, buy premade golden syrup. It can be purchased at specialty retailers and even on Amazon.
If the golden syrup doesn’t trip you up, adding the eggs is another place one might get their wand in a knot. Making sure the hot golden syrup has cooled enough to not immediately scramble the eggs can get dicey. Just make sure to keep whisking while you incorporate the eggs for best results. If you goof on your first attempt, there’s no use crying over spilled potion—just get back on your broomstick and try again.
Despite these difficulties, making treacle tart is worth the effort to try Harry Potter’s favorite dessert!
FAQ’s About Making Harry Potter’s Treacle Tart
Can I make this tart ahead of time?
Yes! This classic British recipe is an excellent make-ahead dessert. Treacle tart can be stored at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Warm before serving, if desired.
Can I freeze treacle tart?
We have not tested freezing this recipe, so it would be an experiment. If you’d like to try freezing treacle tart, let cool completely and then wrap it tightly in plastic before storing it in the freezer. To serve, warm directly from frozen in a 350° oven until heated through. For more suggestions, try these other tips for how to freeze pie.
Originally Published: April 25, 2022
