What's Treacle used for?

[Jormungandr]

I was watching the Escapist’s review of Little Big Planet in which he mentioned a product called treacle (Heinz version was shown). I did a quick search and found it was made for sugar, but everything is else related to mining. Apparently, it’s used in Australia, but why more there, it seems, and what is it used for there?

[Q.E.D]

A sweetener for cooking, mainly.

[Colibri]

Basically it is what would be called molasses in the US. Darker than golden syrup and lighter than blackstrap molasses. It’s used in various desserts.

[Colibri]

Moving to Cafe Society from GQ.

Colibri
General Questions Moderator

[Pushkin]

@Colibri

It’s used in various desserts.

I seem to remember Mum making a treacle tart, or am I confusing it with golden syrup.

[ivan_astikov]

Treacle toffee is a staple part of the UK diet on Bonfire Night. Plays havoc on your teeth though.

[glee]

@ivan_astikov

Treacle toffee is a staple part of the UK diet on Bonfire Night. Plays havoc on your teeth though.

Treacle Tart is a staple part of the UK diet.
You can have it hot (usually with custard), or cold (usually with ice-cream).

[ivan_astikov]

@glee

Treacle Tart is a staple part of the UK diet.
You can have it hot (usually with custard), or cold (usually with ice-cream).

Can I not have both? Pleeeeaaaaasssse?

[Claptree]

Well, I guess it’s true that you learn something new every day. I enjoyed reading about the wild haggis, for instance.

[cmkeller]

It’s used for cheap emotional manipulation, e.g., glurge stories.

[Prelude_to_Fascination]

I’d first heard of it from Spinal Tap’s Cups and Cakes:

“The china’s so dear and the treacle so clear…”
http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Cups-and-Cakes-lyrics-Spinal-Tap/E884BE5FC9C3ADA948256DCE002F4D0F

Now I know what they were referring to. Thanks for educating me.

[Lust4Life]

We used to have it on bread and butter,also theres Treacle pudding.
I was always under the assumption that Golden SyrupWAS treacle.

[silenus]

I use it when brewing my Old Peculier knockoff. Gives just the right twang to the brew.

[Superfluous_Parentheses]

Just in case: The references to mining are bogus.

[Alan_Smithee]

Thanks, SP. I wondered what mining could possibly have to do with treacle. I guess it could have started from confusion with treacle wells, but I thought everyone knew treacle came from wells. People used to live in them. I understand they were popular with artists, who would go there to draw.

[Giles]

You can use treacle as an ingredient in cookies. For example, with ANZAC biscuits, you could substitute treacle for golden syrup in the ingredients.

[MarcusF]

@Lust4Life

We used to have it on bread and butter,also theres Treacle pudding.
I was always under the assumption that Golden SyrupWAS treacle.

No - two separate things - it’s just the normal English confuse the foreigners bit that we call a pastry made with Golden Syrup, Treacle Tart

In the Marcus household, the only thing we use the “black” treacle for is in rich fruit cakes - Christmas Cake etc.

[RealityChuck]

“Once upon a time there were three little sisters,” the Dormouse began in a great hurry; “and their names were Elsie, Lacie, and Tillie; and they lived at the bottom of a well—”

“What did they live on?” said Alice, who always took a great interest in questions of eating and drinking.

“They lived on treacle,” said the Dormouse, after thinking a minute or two.

“They couldn’t have done that, you know,” Alice gently remarked. "They’d have been ill.”

“So they were,” said the Dormouse; “very ill.”

Alice tried a little to fancy to herself what such an extraordinary way of living would be like, but it puzzled her too much: so she went on:

“But why did they live at the bottom of a well?”

“Take some more tea”, the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly.

“I’ve had nothing yet”, Alice replied in an offended tone: “so I can’t take more.”

“You mean you can’t take less,” said the Hatter: “it’s very easy to take more than nothing.”

“Nobody asked your opinion,” said Alice.

“Who’s making personal remarks now?” the Hatter asked triumphantly.

Alice did not quite know what to say to this: so she helped herself to some tea and bread-and-butter, and then turned to the Dormouse, and repeated her question. “Why did they live at the bottom of a well?”

The Dormouse again took a minute or two to think about it, and then said, “It was a treacle-well.”

“There’s no such thing!” Alice was beginning very angrily, but the Hatter and the March Hare went, “Sh! Sh!” and the Dormouse sulkily remarked, “If you can’t be civil, you’d better finish the story for yourself.”

“No, please go on!” Alice said very humbly, “I won’t interrupt you again. I dare say there may be one.”

“One, indeed!” said the Dormouse indignantly. However, he consented to go on. “And so these three little sisters—they were learning to draw, you know—”

“What did they draw?” said Alice, quite forgetting her promise.

“Treacle,” said the Dormouse, without considering at all, this time.

“I want a clean cup,” interrupted the Hatter: “let’s all move one place on.”

He moved on as he spoke, and the Dormouse followed him: the March Hare moved into the Dormouse’s place, and Alice rather unwillingly took the place of the March Hare. The Hatter was the only one who got any advantage from the change; and Alice was a good deal worse off than before, as the March Hare had just upset the milk-jug into his plate.

Alice did not wish to offend the Dormouse again, so she began very cautiously: “But I don’t understand. Where did they draw the treacle from?”

“You can draw water out of a water-well,” said the Hatter; “so I should think you could draw treacle out of a treacle-well—eh, stupid?”

I trust this explains everything.