Bake Off Challenge: Latticed Treacle Tart

When I showed my Dad the list of things I had to make for the Great British Bake Off Challenge, straight away he requested the treacle tart first. Just like me, he has a real sweet tooth, and any recipe that includes 400g of golden syrup has to be good!

I had a lot of fun making this recipe. It was fairly easy actually; I think the bakers got off lightly this week. I've made a treacle tart before, so the only bit that was worrying me at all was the woven top. Some of the bakers made a real mess of it, so I was surprised how easy it was. But then, I did have the luxury of watching Mary Berry make hers on the masterclass before I had to attempt it! 

And, of course, it was delicious! There was more lemon in it that I expected, which gave it a much fresher taste than some treacle tarts I've tried. Served warm, with a bit of custard or clotted cream, it was YUM! 

Recipe for Woven Lattice Treacle Tart (from the BBC food website)

Ingredients
For the pastry:
250g/9oz plain flour
130g/4.5oz butter plus extra for greasing
3 tbsp cold water (I had to use a bit more than this)
For the filling:
400g/14oz golden syrup
150g/5.5oz fine breadcrumbs
2 lemons, zest and juice
1 egg, beaten, to be used as an egg wash.

Method
1. First make the short crust 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6 and put a heavy baking tray in the oven to heat up.
6. 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.
7. Pour the syrup mixture into the lined tin and level the surface.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.

Bento No.34, Bean and Rice Burgers

The other night, John was cooking dinner, and veggie burgers were on the menu. I asked him to make enough mixture for bentos the next day too, and when I tried them I was very glad I had. They were DELICIOUS! The original recipe was for adzuki bean, sun-dried tomato and millet burgers, but we substituted the millet for rice, and changed the herbs around a bit. They weren't like traditional burgers at all, but I've been craving them over and over again since we made it!

For my bento, I'd thought there was more mixture left than there was, so when I put the burgers and veggies in, there was loads of space left. Luckily, a quick search round my room found me lots of little bits and bobs to fill it up with. I loved the variety that it gave me, and mean to try to do more bentos with lots of variety when I have time!

Rice and Adzuki Bean Burgers (recipe below), Broccoli, Tomatoes, Green Beans, Satsuma, Ketchup (in small green tub), little chilli biscuits, half a cereal bar, small 60% cocoa chocolate

Rice and Adzuki Bean Burgers (Makes enough for 2, with some leftovers for the next day)

Adapted from Veggies on the Counter

3 cups Cooked Rice

60g Sun-Dried Tomatoes (in oil or dry)

400g Adzuki Beans (canned or cooked)

3 Cloves of Garlic

Oil (sun-dried tomato oil is best, but olive would do too)

 ½ tsp Salt

Black Pepper

1tsp basil (or sub with other herbs of  your choice)

1. If using dry tomatoes, put them in a bowl with hot water and leave to rehydrate for about 15 minutes.

2. Chop garlic and fry in a bit of the olive oil until golden brown.

3. Chop tomatoes and drain beans.

4. Put half each of the rice, tomatoes and beans and all the garlic in a blender. Add about a tablespoon of oil,  the salt and pepper and herbs. Blend until it makes a smooth paste. Add more liquid if necessary (oil or water; oil will be tastier, water healthier!)

5. Mix the rest of the ingredients into the paste. Pulse once or twice in the blender.

6. Slightly oil your hands and shape the mixture into burger patties.

6. Heat up some oil in a frying pan, and fry the burgers until they're browned (about 5 minutes on each side)

7. Serve with veggies of your choice.