Treacle & Quince Tart

A great Autumnal pudding to serve with a cup of tea after you've come in from a long walk. A sweet pastry tart case with a layer of enriched Quince Purée and then a layer of Treacle.

Ingredients For an 18cm deep Tart Tin

For the pastry case
150g Plain Flour
40g Icing Sugar
Pinch of Salt
75g Butter, diced
1 large Egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon Lemon Juice

For the quince filling
400 ml Quince, cored, peeled and diced
3 tablespoons Honey
6 Sage Leaves, shredded
50g Butter
½ teaspoon ground Nutmeg
2 Egg Yolks

For the treacle filling
200ml Golden Syrup
100g fresh Breadcrumbs
1 Lemon, juice and zest
2 tablespoons Double Cream

Method

• Mix the flour, sugar and salt together in a large bowl. Use your fingertips to rub the diced butter into the mixture to form “breadcrumbs”.

• Make a well in the flour, pour in the egg and lemon, knead the dough together into pastry.

• Wrap the pastry in clingfilm, then chill in the fridge for at least an hour.

• Grease the tart tin with a little butter, sprinkle some flour onto the work surface. Roll out the pastry to an even circle, a bit bigger than the tin.

• Fit the pastry into the tin and neatly pinch together round the edge, squeezing off any excess.

• Prick the base of the pastry case with a fork. Crumble a piece of baking paper, fit this to the pastry case, fill with baking beans or uncooked rice.

• Bake the case “blind” in a preheated oven at 200°C for 10 minutes. Remove the baking beans and paper, return to the oven for a further 10 minutes.

• Prepare the quince puree.  Put the quince, sage, honey and butter into a heavy based pan over a low heat, add 3 tablespoons of water, cook for 20 minutes until the fruit is soft.

• Transfer the quince to a food processor, blitz to a puree, blend in the nutmeg and egg yolks, set aside.

• When the pastry case is cooked, spread the quince puree across the base.

• Melt the syrup in a heavy based pan, add the breadcrumbs, lemon and cream, stir and bring to the boil. Pour this mixture over the quince to completely fill the tart case.

• Bake the tart in a pre-heated oven at 180°C for 30 minutes.

• Serve the Quince Treacle Tart warm with whipped cream.