it’s so hard, to say goodbye, with treacle tart

*sniff*

The time is here. Tonight at midnight I will enter the theater, donning my shiny new HP-inspired shirt and a grip of tissues to mop of my eyes.

I couldn’t think of a better way to send off Harry than with his very favorite dessert (pudding, if you will), treacle tart. Treacle tart is a traditional British dessert that uses golden syrup as a primary ingredient, which is just a thick cane syrup. I thought is tasted much like liquid cotton candy. While the ingredients in treacle tart may seem a little odd an American audience and the filling seems far too soupy to set up, I assure you it works.

I came upon some golden syrup at the our regular grocery store, so that made it easy. Finding a recipe that didn’t appear to bake up a tart of pure sugar was another story. I shifted and sorted and made up my own, adding some pureed apricots to it to try and offset the intense sweetness of the golden syrup. Then I figured, since I was already breaking all of the rules that I would make it in my Baker’s Edge pan to make it easier for serving for a lovely English tea.

Harry’s Farewell Treacle Tart

1 recipe Basic Pie Crust
1/2 package of firm aseptic tofu
1 1/4 cups of golden syrup
1 cup of chopped apricot (you could use peaches or some other fruit, too)
3/4 cups of fresh bread crumbs
2 tbsp. lemon juice

Preheat oven to 375. Press 2/3 of the chilled crust into the bottom and sides of a pan (can use a 9 inch tart pan or a 9×12 baking pan). Cover with parchment and weight down with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until slightly golden and dry to the touch. Remove from oven and let cool.

Lower oven temperature to 350. Combine the tofu, syrup and apricots in a food processor and mix until smooth. Add the breadcrumbs and lemon juice to combine. Pour the filling into the cooled crust. Roll out the remaining dough and cut into strips for the lattice top (not necessary, you can use the leftover pie crust for some Pumpkin Pasties, if you’d like!).

For bars, bake for 30-25 minutes, until filling is set and crust is browned. For a tart, bake for 45-50 minutes. The edges might be slightly bubbling, but that’s okay. Let tart cool on a cooling rack for 30 minutes to set before serving.

While I’m sad to see this day, I’m delighted to remember that the books are 10x better than the movies and I can read them anytime I’d like.

‘Til next time, Mr. Potter.