I am a bit biased, but I think this makes as good a treacle tart as I have ever eaten. Not surprisingly, 500 years ago, it was made with treacle, which made it very heavy and dark, with a tarry, liquorice-like character. Today, we use golden syrup, and after many trials, this is the recipe I ended up with.

Makes 10 generous portions

For the shortcrust-pastry base
225g plain flour
½ tsp salt
150g butter
75g icing sugar
Zest of ½ lemon
1 egg yolk
1 large egg

For the filling
150g brown breadcrumbs
75g butter (for beurre noisette)
900ml golden syrup
3 large eggs
75ml double cream
Zest of 3 lemons
1½ tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 150C/ 300F/Gas Mark 2. To make the pastry, sift together the flour and the salt into a bowl. Quickly rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Mix in the icing sugar and lemon zest, then add the egg yolk and egg. Work it until everything comes together as a dough, then place in the fridge and rest for 1 hour. Roll out the pastry to line a 30cm-wide tart case, then leave to rest again in the fridge for at least 1 more hour.

To bake blind, I scrunch up some parchment paper, unfold it, then repeat several times, so there are no sharp edges to cut into the pastry. Instead of baking beans, I use old coins, as they weigh down the paper better and conduct heat, which helps to cook the top of the tart. Cook it in the oven for 35-40 minutes, then remove and leave to cool.

Place the breadcrumbs on a baking tray in the preheated oven and bake for 5 minutes. Stir, then bake for a further 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.

For the beurre noisette, cook the butter over a medium heat for a few minutes until it starts to sizzle. Make sure you don’t cook it at too high a temperature, otherwise you will end up with beurre noire. As soon as it stops sizzling, it is ready, as all the water content has evaporated. It should have a nice hazelnut scent.

Pour it into a cold pan and set aside. In another pan, bring the golden syrup to the boil. Remove it from the heat, then add the beurre noisette. In a bowl, beat the eggs with the cream, add the syrup mix, lemon zest, salt and breadcrumbs, then mix well. Leave it to stand for 5 minutes, then fill the blind-baked crust and bake for 40 minutes at 150C/300F/Gas Mark 2. Serve with a good dollop of thick fresh cream.

Let me know how you get on: heston@sunday-times.co.uk.

To win dinner for four at Heston Blumenthal’s award- winning restaurant, The Fat Duck, in Bray, visit www.timesonline.co.uk/hestonb. Competition ends at midnight on August 8

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