There comes a point in everyone’s life when you look – really look – at black treacle and, instead of seeing a familiar larder mainstay, decide that it is an unpalatably bitter, weirdly coloured, metallic-tasting goop. This is why everyone has an almost full tin of treacle in their cupboard. But don’t be so quick to write it off: this is an ingredient that can shine, given the right treatment. These are the recipes you should make to use it all up.
Treacle and caraway apple muffins
We will start with a Dan Lepard recipe because in 2012 he put his finger on the reason people don’t like treacle. “It has a hint of iron, like sucking the blood from a cut finger, and perhaps this sets off a primitive revulsion in some,” he wrote. “The colour, too, is disturbing, giving foods a greenish-brown cast that would be wholly acceptable in a Farrow & Ball paint swatch but somewhat less jolly in your favourite scone recipe.” Nevertheless, the man is a convert and his treacle and caraway apple muffins are a thing to behold, the treacle softened by butter and brown sugar and enlivened with diced apple.
Treacle tart
Clearly, though, you are most likely to begin your voyage into treacle with a treacle tart. As always, Felicity Cloake delivers the goods. Her treacle tart recipe hits the bullseye, possibly because it doesn’t contain much treacle: just 35g of the stuff goes into the filling, compared with 400g of golden syrup. Still, that 35g does a lot of heavy lifting, giving what would otherwise be cloying sweetness an undercurrent of darkness.
Treacle brushed pork
James Tanner’s treacle brushed pork, with crushed butterbeans and Devon cider apple sauce, doesn’t require a lot of treacle, but its deployment – warmed and poured over a pork tenderloin as it rests – means that it packs a whopper of a punch.
Treacle dumpling
For a pure hit of comfort, you can’t go wrong with a steamed pudding. Jeremy Lee’s treacle dumpling should see you right. What makes this recipe special is that, with the exception of a little mace and cinnamon, all the flavour comes from the treacle. That said, Lee augments it with golden syrup “to temper its might”.
Beremeal treacle soda bread
We are going for a rare Lee double dip because his recipe for beremeal treacle soda bread deserves to be mentioned. Hopefully, lockdown taught you how quick and easy it is to knock up soda bread, but this is a slightly more involved version. First, it is made with beremeal, a grain milled only in Orkney that is almost impossible to find in supermarkets (you can get it online). It is sweetened with a mixture of honey and treacle, the latter lending the finished product a husky darkness. As with all soda breads, this is best eaten fresh from the oven.
Black treacle and miso-marinated rump
As the country’s go-to treacle manufacturer, Tate & Lyle should have some idea what the hell to do with the stuff. And it does: the company website has a recipe for black treacle and miso-marinated rump steak with chimichurri, in which the combination of treacle, miso paste and white wine vinegar gives great depth of flavour.
Kansas City baked beans
If you are stuck with the unfortunate combination of too much treacle and too little time, Great British Chefs has a recipe for Kansas City baked beans that is smoky, porky and can go from cupboard to table in less than half an hour. This is perhaps my favourite use for treacle: it is a quick way to add a sticky richness to savoury dishes that would otherwise take hours to achieve.
Gateau moeleux au chocolat
Eric Lanlard’s gateau moeleux au chocolat is spectacular. An ostentatiously fancypants chocolate cake, it uses treacle in the same way other cake recipes might use salt, intensifying the hit of chocolate to an absurd degree.
Parkin
Parkin is traditionally rolled out for Bonfire Night, but, since we are living through an age in which seasons bleed into one other, we may as well knock up a batch now. Baking Mad’s parkin recipe is a good place to start. Rich, sticky and dense with porridge oats, this is the recipe in which treacle comes into its own. Also, parkin keeps extraordinarily well: it tastes good eaten fresh, extraordinary left for a few days.
Dark treacle banana gingerbread
Don’t let memories of the first lockdown put you off this recipe for banana bread. The website Tinned Tomatoes has a recipe for dark treacle banana gingerbread that functions well as a wintry alternative to the traditional stuff. The addition of ginger, allspice and treacle make this as close to sticky toffee pudding as banana bread can get, plus it is vegan. All things considered, treacle may not be all that bad after all.
