In “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” the house elf, Kreacher, serves Harry, Ron and Hermione stew and treacle tart. This version adds ginger and peaches to the traditional British filling. Save time by using a ready-made pie crust. We left the top crust off ours for a lighter, quicker dessert. From “The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook.” Makes a 10-inch tart, about 8-10 servings.
Ingredients
TART CRUST
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup finely ground almonds
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
TREACLE FILLING
1 large peach, thinly sliced
1 cup golden syrup (or maple or dark corn syrup)
2 cups fresh bread crumbs (6 to 8 slices fresh bread processed to crumbs in a food processor)
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1 teaspoon ground ginger
Directions
Combine the flour, ground almonds, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl. Using a pastry cutter, two knives or your fingertips, cut the butter into the flour until the flour is completely coated with fat; in other words, no white powdery flour remains and the mixture resembles coarse yellow meal.
Or pulse in a food processor 15 to 20 times until the mixture resembles coarse yellow meal, and then transfer it to a large mixing bowl.
Beat the egg yolk with the cream and vanilla and pour it into the flour-butter mixture. Toss with a spatula until the dough clumps together, then knead briefly. Form 1/3 of the dough into one disk and the remaining 2/3 of the dough into another. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to 3 days.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove the larger disk from the refrigerator and sprinkle both sides generously with flour. On a heavily flour-dusted work surface, roll out the dough to an 11-inch circle.
Fit the dough into a 9-inch tart pan and press in the bottom and sides. This dough is hard to work with, but you can gather it up, knead it and reroll several times without its becoming tough. If it gets too soft, put it back in the fridge to firm up.
Lay the thinly sliced peaches on the bottom of the tart. Warm the golden syrup in the microwave or a small saucepan just until it’s runny. Combine the golden syrup, bread crumbs, chopped almonds, and ginger in a mixing bowl and mix well. Scrape the mixture into the tart shell and spread it evenly over the peach slices with a rubber spatula.
Remove the smaller disk from the refrigerator and sprinkle both sides generously with flour. On a heavily flour-dusted work surface, roll out the dough 1/8-inch thick. Cut the dough into strips with a sharp knife. Lay half the strips over the tart in one direction and lay the other half over the tart in the opposite direction to form a lattice. Don’t try weaving the strips. Just laying them down will be hard enough, as the strips may break as you move them and you’ll have to keep fixing and patching.
Brush the strips with the beaten egg and bake the tart for 45 minutes, until golden brown. Serve warm or chilled.
