Easy Cornflake Tart

This recipe for Easy Cornflake Tart is a blast from the past, as I used to love this when I was at school as part of school dinners “afters”, especially when served warm with custard. This recipe is easily made with store cupboard ingredients, and ready-made and ready-rolled pastry.

Today’s recipe for Easy Cornflake Tart is a blast from the past, as I used to love this when I was at school as part of school dinners “afters”. My recipe is so easy as it uses ready-made shortcrust pastry, although you can use homemade pastry too.

It uses simple store cupboard ingredients such as cornflakes, golden syrup, jam and sugar. Serve the tart with custard for that very nostalgic taste of school dinners, either warm or cold.

The taste of this Easy Cornflake Tart takes me right back – it must be the combination of the pastry, jam and sticky syrup cornflakes that does it. And, when it is served with custard that completes the nostalgic culinary trip back to my childhood.

The great thing about this tasty tart, is that it’s so easily made and adapted, depending on what you have to hand. You must have the cornflakes to make it work, as well as a pastry case, but after that you can invent and adapt as I have suggested below.

We may take cornflakes for granted now, as they are a popular and easily sourced breakfast cereal. But back in the early 20th Century, cooked breakfasts were the norm, with bacon and eggs being a commonly served breakfast in the UK, and a variety of pancakes with bacon, eggs and sausages being the choice of most Americans.

Then, one day in 1896, two years after William Kellogg invented the now famous breakfast cereal for his brother’s patients in a Battle Creek Sanitarium, Americans woke up to a new breakfast that was fast and easy to serve and eat. By 1909, Kellogg’s Corn Flakes were as a common sight on most American breakfast tables as pancakes and syrup!

Although to achieve that nostalgic school dinner taste, you need to use strawberry jam and golden syrup, I’ve added a few ideas for variations below. These may prove useful for you if you already have these ingredients in your pantry or store cupboard.

• In place of strawberry jam, use any jam you have to hand, such as raspberry, apricot or even marmalade, which would add a great tangy flavour.

• If you want to add a citrus flavour, add the grated zest of one lemon or one orange to the cornflakes mixture.

• Use maple syrup or honey in place of the golden syrup. And, honey nut cornflakes are also lovely when used in this recipe.

• Or, if you have any cornflakes mixture let over, as I did last time I made these, why not make some Chocolate Cornflake Cakes? Just add some squares of broken up chocolate to the cornflakes mixture, melt and then spoon into small cake cases.

Most ready-made pastry is vegan, unless they state that it has butter in it. DO check however before using them. Alternatively, you can make your own vegan pastry. For the filling, omit the butter and use a plant-based margarine and you will have a VEGAN EASY CORNFLAKE TART.

For a Gluten Free Cornflake Tart, make your own gluten free pastry, or buy a ready-made “Free From” pastry. And, check that the cornflakes you are using are gluten free, which comes from a a gluten free part of the factory.

I hope you enjoy this Easy Cornflake Tart if you make it, and it will transport you back to happy school days, hopefully! I have shared some step-by-step instructions below, along with a selection of the process images and a printable recipe.

PLEASE do let me know if you like this old-fashioned sweet tart, or even if loathe it and why! I’d love to know if you make it too, so why not drop a comment below. Have a lovely weekend and STAY IN and STAY SAFE, Karen

You’ll find the full and printable recipe at the end of this post

• Pre-heat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas Mark 4 and grease and/or line a 20cm (8″) flan dish or tart tin. Line the tart tin with the ready-rolled pastry and ease into the tin, before trimming the excess pastry that hangs over the rim.

• Line the pastry case with baking paper and fill with ceramic baking beans, dried beans or dried rice. Bake blind for 10 to 15 minutes. Then remove the baking paper and baking beans and cook for a further 5 minutes until the pastry is golden brown. Allow to cool.

• Make the filling – heat the butter, golden syrup and sugar together in a large pan, until is has all melted. Fold in the cornflakes and mix well, so all of the cornflakes are coated.

• Spread the jam over the baked pastry case and spoon the cornflake mixture over the top of the jam. Press down lightly to smooth the cornflakes out in an even layer.

• Bake for a further 5 to 10 minutes until the cornflakes are golden brown and are lightly toasted. Remove from the oven and allow to cool until just warm before serving in slices with hot custard.