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How To Make Old School Cornflake Tart
A UK cornflake tart recipe with a layer of jam and a crunchy cornflake topping. This tray bake will take you right back to school!
Hands up if you remember having cornflake tart at school! It has a smooth buttery shortcrust base, a sweet jam layer and a crunchy and syrupy cornflake topping.
All the flavours in this dessert make one seriously good tart! Honestly, the flavours are phenomenal, and the texture is hard to resist.
You can make this cornflake tart in just 45 minutes and it’s so easy too! This recipe uses very basic ingredients that you might have at home already.
Why You’ll Like This Recipe
- An easy cornflake tart recipe that’s also quick to make.
- The smell is amazing!
- You can use ready-rolled pastry.
- A dessert guaranteed to bring back memories from school.
- This dessert is so tasty.
Watch How To Make Cornflake Tart
What Is A Cornflake Tart
A cornflake tart is a UK school dinners pudding enjoyed by many in the 1970s and 1980s. It has a shortcrust pastry base with a layer of jam and a topping made from cornflakes, golden syrup, sugar and butter.
It’s called a cornflake tart or a cornflake tray bake, either way it’s the same old school dessert.
Where Does Cornflake Tart Come From
Cornflake tart is a British dish served in many UK schools; however, the exact origin of this dessert is unknown. From my research, this recipe first popped up after the war.
Cornflake Tart Recipe Ingredients
Below are the few ingredients needed for this recipe:
- Shortcrust Pastry: You can buy ready-rolled shortcrust pastry or you can make your own pastry from scratch.
- Cornflakes: Any brand of cornflakes is fine to use.
- Butter: Use either salted or unsalted butter; this is up to personal preference.
- Golden Syrup: A caramel tasting syrup that binds the cornflakes in this tart together.
- Light Brown Sugar: Adds a delicious, caramelised taste. If you don’t have light brown sugar, you can use dark brown sugar instead.
- Jam: Use either strawberry or raspberry jam (I used strawberry jam)
Golden Syrup Alternatives
Golden syrup is a key ingredient that sticks individual cornflake pieces together. If you’re in the UK, making cornflake tart is quite easy as golden syrup is sold pretty much everywhere.
If you’re not in the UK, there are many golden syrup alternatives you can use. An easy swap is to use treacle syrup instead of golden syrup when making this cornflake tart.
Do I Have To Make My Own Pastry?
If you don’t want to make your own shortcrust pastry, you don’t have too! But if you do, you can use my sweet shortcrust pastry recipe.
I prefer using ready-rolled shortcrust pastry because it drastically shortens the recipe time. You can get straight into making this dessert instead of spending time making the pastry first.
If you’re using shop-brought pastry, make sure to buy pre-rolled pastry instead of a block of pastry. Pre-rolled pastry is rolled out evenly for you, it’s ready to use.
How To Make An Easy Old School Cornflake Tart
Below is a step-by-step guide on how to make an old school cornflake tart. Full recipe instructions are on the recipe card:
Step One:
Preheat your oven to 180°C (160°C Fan, gas mark 4) and grease a 23cm tart tin with butter or grease. You can also line the base with parchment paper (optional).
Unroll the pre-rolled shortcrust pastry and lay it over the greased tart tin. Gently press the pastry into the base and into the fluted sides of the tin.
With a knife or with your fingers, trim any excess pastry that is hanging over the sides.
Step Two:
Place a layer of parchment paper on top of the pastry and pour baking beans on top. Blind bake the pastry in the oven for 15 minutes then remove the parchment paper and baking beans.
Put the pastry back into the oven and bake for a further 5 to 10 minutes or until the pastry is cooked through. Once baked, take the pastry out of the oven and set it aside for later use. Be careful when removing from the oven it will be hot.
Step Three:
Add butter, light brown sugar and golden syrup to a large mixing bowl and melt in the microwave on a medium heat.
Stop the microwave every 10 to 15 seconds and stir the mixture thoroughly until melted. You can also melt the ingredients in a pan over a low heat.
Step Four:
Pour cornflakes into the mixture and mix thoroughly until evenly combined.
Step Five:
To assemble the tart, spread jam evenly over the base of the pastry.
Step Six:
Pour the cornflake mixture on top of the jam and spread it out evenly. With the back of a spoon, gently press the cornflake mixture down.
Step Seven:
Put the cornflake tart back in the oven for 5 minutes to help it set. Leave to cool down for at least 20 minutes, then serve and enjoy!
Equipment Needed
23cm Fluted Tart Tin: This size tin makes around 10 slices, and the fluted design gives the sides a crimped look. Use a non-stick and loose base tart tin for super easy removal.
Baking Beans: Used for blind baking pastry, its weight prevents the pastry from rising when baking in the oven. If you don’t have baking beans you can use rice.
Parchment Paper: A layer of parchment paper sits underneath the baking beans and on top of the pastry. This prevents the baking beans from baking into the pastry.
How To Serve
Serving jam cornflake tart with creamy custard makes a classic school dinner pudding combo. You can also serve this tart with ice cream.
My honeycomb ice cream and Biscoff ice cream is so delicious, and you don’t need an ice cream machine to make it!
You can of course eat the cornflake tart by itself or dollop extra jam on top.
My Top Tips
Make sure the shop-brought pastry is left out to thaw for at least 20 minutes before starting this recipe. This prevents the pastry from breaking apart whilst unrolling it. If it does break apart, use your fingers to press the pastry back together.
Mix the cornflakes thoroughly into the melted syrup mixture otherwise the cornflakes will fall and break apart. This mixture helps stick everything together.
You can line your baking tin with parchment paper to prevent sticking, as the tart tin is fluted, only line the base with parchment paper then grease the fluted sides with butter. Or, you can grease the whole tart tin with butter.
Compress the cornflake mixture slightly so that it sticks together, don’t press down too hard that the cornflakes start to break apart.
How To Store & Freeze
Simply store the cornflake tart in an airtight container at room temperature and eat within 3 to 5 days. The longer you leave the cornflake tart, the less crunchy the cornflakes become (as they soften over time).
I suggest eating this cornflake tart straight away otherwise after a few days the golden syrup starts to leak. It still tastes good but I prefer the texture when set thoroughly.
If you want to make it in advance or keep it for longer, then I recommend freezing it. To freeze, place the tart in a freezer-safe container and place in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Cornflake Tart Recipe Variations
Change The Size: You can easily make individual cornflake tarts by making this dessert in single tartlet tins. This a great alternative if you don’t want to make one big tart.
Change The Jam Flavour: Instead of strawberry jam you can use other flavours like raspberry, blackcurrant or apricot jam.
Use Puff Pastry: For an extra flaky tart, you can use puff pastry instead of shortcrust pastry. Bear in mind, puff pastry won’t be as sturdy as shortcrust, so it’ll be better to eat it on a plate.
Make A Vegan Cornflake Tart: Most of the ingredients in this recipe are suitable for vegans including Just rol shortcrust pastry! Simply omit the butter from this recipe or swap it with vegan butter or margarine and you’re good to go.
More Old School Recipes
Take a trip down memory lane with these tasty school pudding recipes below:
Cornflake Tart Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Pre-rolled Shortcrust Pastry
- 100 g Cornflakes
- 50 g Butter
- 110 g Golden Syrup
- 20 g Light Brown Sugar
- 130 g Strawberry Jam
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180°C (160°C Fan, gas mark 4) and grease a 23cm tart tin with butter or grease. You can also line the base with parchment paper (optional).
- Unroll the pre-rolled shortcrust pastry and lay it over the greased tart tin. Gently press the pastry into the base and into the fluted sides of the tin.
- With a knife or with your fingers, trim any excess pastry that is hanging over the sides.
- Place a layer of parchment paper on top of the pastry and pour baking beans on top. Blind bake the pastry in the oven for 15 minutes then remove the parchment paper and baking beans.
- Put the pastry back into the oven and bake for a further 5 to 10 minutes or until the pastry is cooked through.
- Once baked, take the pastry out of the oven and set it aside for later use. Be careful when removing from the oven it will be hot.
- Add butter, light brown sugar and golden syrup to a large mixing bowl and melt in the microwave on a medium heat.
- Stop the microwave every 10 to 15 seconds and stir the mixture thoroughly until melted. You can also melt the ingredients in a pan over a low heat.
- Pour cornflakes into the mixture and mix thoroughly until evenly combined.
- To assemble the tart, spread jam evenly over the base of the pastry.
- Pour the cornflake mixture on top of the jam and spread it out evenly. With the back of a spoon, gently press the cornflake mixture down.
- Put the cornflake tart back in the oven for 5 minutes to help it set. Leave to cool down for at least 20 minutes, then serve and enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
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