Caramel Week on Bake Off saw tears, triumph and treacle tarts – here's our recipe

Lucy Roxburgh – food and drink expert

Published: November 10, 2026 at 9:15 PM

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Turn your hand to a classic British bake

Quarter-final week on Bake Off brought the return of sweet and sticky Caramel Week. As Noel comments, "It's a dentist's nightmare", with industrial quantities of melted sugar used throughout the episode. Treacle tart, millionaire's shortbread and towering nougatine sculptures are on the menu for the bakers, each needing different technical caramel skills. There are tears and triumphs, but also a place in the semi-final up for grabs.

The signature challenge is treacle tart – so far, so classic. Until the twist, that is: the bakers have to make their own golden syrup from scratch. No digging a sticky tin out of the cupboard this week! Treacle tart is one of the quintessential British desserts, according to Nigella, although not to baker Mo, who had never heard of it and thinks it is ‘medieval food’. As well as mastering their own golden syrup, the treacle tart has got to have both a flavour twist and accompaniment, meaning there's custard and ice cream to be made. For us, it reignited the old debate: should hot puds like treacle tart and sticky toffee pudding be served with cream, custard, ice cream or all three?

Despite their best efforts, there is a soggy bottom – and not all the bakes go quite to plan. To recreate this sweet treat yourself, try our classic treacle tart recipe below. For an extra-decadent twist, try Tom Kerridge's toasted brioche treacle tart or a unique boozy version with our IPA treacle tart. And, if you're feeding a crowd, treacle tart bars are easy to transport to parties.

A tent full of treacle tarts was followed by this week's ‘gingham clad mystery’ technical challenge: millionaire's shortbread. A tough time challenge and warm tent meant this turned out to be a bit of a melting mess – but, take your time over our easy millionaire's shortbread and you'll have the perfect teatime treat.

After a complex showstopper of a nougatine sculpture and layered praline cakes, it was time for one baker to go. Bring on the semi-final and the challenges of Patisserie Week, but not before one more slice of treacle tart...

Treacle tart

Treat family and friends to a comforting treacle tart with crumbly pastry and rich filling. A classic British dessert, serve with ice cream or clotted cream.

Treacle tart with slices removed

For the pastry

250g plain flour
140g cold unsalted butter, cubed
3 tbsp icing sugar
2 medium egg yolks (freeze the whites to use in another recipe)

For the filling

400g golden syrup
1 ball stem ginger in syrup, finely chopped, plus 50g of the syrup
1 lemon, zested
2 medium eggs, lightly beaten
100g fine fresh white breadcrumbs

Method

Sieve the flour and ½ tsp fine salt salt into a large bowl. Add the butter and rub together with your fingers to a fine breadcrumb-like texture (you can also do this in a food processor).
Stir though the icing sugar, then quickly add the egg yolks and 2 tbsp water, mixing swiftly with a cutlery knife to combine. Form into a ball (add another 1 tbsp water, if needed), wrap and chill for 30 mins.
Roll out to the thickness of a £1 coin and use it to line a 22cm fluted tart tin, leaving an overhang. Return to the fridge for 30 mins.
Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Put a baking sheet into the oven to heat up. Line the pastry case with baking parchment and baking beans, then bake on the baking sheet for 15 mins. Remove the parchment and bake for a further 10 mins, or until the pastry is golden brown. Leave the pastry to cool before trimming off the overhanging edges using a small serrated knife.
Reduce the oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 4. Combine the golden syrup, ginger, ginger syrup, lemon, eggs and breadcrumbs in a bowl, briefly whisking everything together until combined.
Carefully pour the filling into the pastry case and put in the lower part of the oven to bake for 35-40 mins, or until the filling is just set. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 20 mins before serving with ice cream or thick clotted cream.

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