I got love for you if you were born in the 80's?! Who remembers this delicious Old School Butterscotch tart?!
I have fond memories of this fantastic rich sticky, butterscotch tart. Usually served up with whipped cream or custard in the school canteen!
If you want to get on and make this Old School British Butterscotch Tart at home scroll to the bottom for a printable recipe sheet, containing all measurements and instructions.
However, if you want some extra tips and tricks read on below.
Love to make it for my children (and us!) to show them what school desserts were like before the 2005 guidelines kicked in.
I do agree with the idea of healthier school meals but this dessert is sadly becoming a missed childhood memory!
See below for step by step guide of how to make this tart yourself at home.
It is really very easy and quick aside from the cooling time!
How to make Old School Butterscoth Tart?
📖 Step by Step Recipe
Old School Butterscotch Tart
Ingredients
- Sweet Shortcrust Pastry Tart - Shop brought or follow link for our homemade recipe
Butterscotch Filling
- 180 grams (¾ cup) Unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoon (30 ml) Milk - full fat is best, but any will work
- 180 grams (1 cup) Soft Light Brown Sugar
mix together the below before adding to sauce to prevent lumps
- 4 tbsp Plain Flour
- 6 tablespoon (80 ml) Milk - full fat is best, but any will work
Optional........ your favourite toppings?! Such as popcorn, chocolate, meringue, cream, fruit.
Instructions
- Make your Sweet Shortcrust Pastry Tart case first or use a pre made case from the shop?Sweet Shortcrust Pastry Tart
- Melt the butter with 2 tablespoon of milk in a pan over a low heat.180 grams (¾ cup) Unsalted butter, 2 tablespoon (30 ml) Milk
- Once the butter is melted, stir the sugar in and keep stiring at low heat, until sugar is fully dissolved.180 grams (1 cup) Soft Light Brown Sugar
- Place the flour into a small bowl, add 6tbsp milk and mix into a fine paste.4 tablespoon Plain Flour, 6 tablespoon (80 ml) Milk
- Pour the flour paste slowly, bit by bit in to the pan whilst constantly whisking, for 2-3 mins until its thickened.
- Take off heat and allow to cool slightly for 5 minutes.
- Pour the mixture into the tart case until evenly spread and place in the fridge for 3-4 hrs to set, before serving.
Video
Nutrition
Simply melt the butter with 30ml milk on low heat (I use whole milk but any will work) pour in soft light brown sugar, and stir , watch as it marbles together into a caramel colour.
Mix the remaining 70ml of milk with 4 tablespoon of flour making sure to stir well, so no lumps. Slowly pour into the butterscotch mixture whilst whisking it (to prevent lumps from forming).
What is the difference between Butterscotch Sauce and Caramel Sauce?
Caramel is made using granulated white sugar, whereas butterscotch uses light brown sugar. That is the only difference!
Help my Butterscotch sauce is Lumpy?
In the early days of making this, I made the mistake of not stiring the flour in with the milk, which made a lumpy Butterscotch sauce.... please if this happens to you do not give up!!
Simply use a sieve to push the sauce through the lumps.
Making own or using store-bought Pastry case for a tart?
Store-bought pastry tart is a quicker option, but if you did want to make your own pastry cases check out our Sweet Shortcrust Pastry Tart post for all the tips, tricks and how to make your own perfect dessert shorcrust pastry!
If you do make your own, make it before you make the sauce, as the sauce needs to be poured in whilst it is warm!
Pour the (still warm) butterscotch sauce into the tart case. Just pour all in the middle, it will spread out to the edges by itself!!
Cover without letting anything touch the sauce (we use a microwave splash cover) Place in the fridge to set, for about 3 hours.
That's it your ready to serve!!
Tastes great with whipped cream, squirty spray cream, double cream or custard!
Alternatively, take it a step further and try adding toffee popcorn and Mini Jazzies! Mix it up using your favourite toppings!?
We used Popcorn Shed, Mini Pop Toffee Popcorn to decorate, fantastic toffee flavour, the popcorn is half the size of regular pop corn so perfect for decorating and also great for snacking on too!
So, there you have it, feel free to share this amazing Old School Dessert with friends you went to school with, for nostalgic memories together!
Hope you enjoyed this Nostalgic, Old School Butterscotch Tart as much as we do!
Let us know in the comments how you get on and if there are any other recipes you would like us to recreate?
Why not try out our passion fruit thumbprint cookie recipe if you like sweet things!?
Or our Flawless Lemon Drizzle Cake for another Great British dessert recipe!
More British Recipes
If you're in the mood for something truly British, then look no further than our fabulous collection of recipes.
Cat Perkinton says
Excellent, this was such a favourite of my school days.
Kay says
Thank you, Cat for the comment 🙂
Nice to hear you like our Butterscotch tart, this is one of our favourites and brings us back to great school memories 😉
Enjoy!!
Mum cooks says
Cornflour is better rather than plain. It was lumpy and tasted of flour. Not good.
Luke says
Yes, cornflour can be used instead, thank you for sharing your results with us.
Next time I make it I will try and share my results.
Did you still use the same amount of cornflour, then we did of flour? As cornflour usually thickens more than flour?
I would imagine it makes a darker glossier finish than flour does too?
Rachael Tovey says
Gypsy tart.
Kay says
Yes, that's right it's similar to a gypsy tart, but a gypsy tart is made with evaporated milk 🙂
Anne Marie says
Hi! Could I use soft dark brown sugar as I can't get hold of the light one at the moment? Thank you!
Kay says
Hi Anne
Thanks for messaging us on here and FB Messanger and glad we could help with your enquiries and your butterscotch tart came out really well 🙂
Enjoy!!
Tracy says
I was at school in the 80's and I remember this pudding *very* well :p. I'm going to give this a try in the next few days but I think I'm going to use evaporated milk instead of whole milk, see if it gives a deeper flavour
Kay says
Hi Tracy
Thanks for the comment 🙂
Hope you enjoy the Butterscotch tart, let us know how it goes?
Mary says
Could you add a tablespoon of cornflour to thicken it?
Mum cooks says
I would leave the plain flour and use cornflour!
Claudia Lamascolo says
My husband will love this going to surprise him with this for his birthday Saturday perfect timing!
Kay says
Hi Claudia
Thanks for the comment and rating 🙂
Hope your husband had a great birthday and enjoys the butterscotch tart!!
Katherine says
What a great nostalgic tart! I love the popcorn topping too.
Kay says
Thanks for the comment and rating 🙂
Glad you liked the popcorn topping, hope you enjoy the recipe 🙂
Wendy says
Hi after adding the flour to the mixure (stage 5) are you meant to turn up the heat as mine was still runny after 2-3 minutes of whisking and hadn't thickened at all?
By the way I have never heard of this tart before but it looks yummy.
Luke says
Hi Wendy, thank you for your message and I hope I have replied quick enough! Yes, turn the heat up enough to make it bubble for it to thicken. But keep stirring and make sure it doesn't burn!
You can see our Youtube video here too if it helps https://youtu.be/SsGSi5r39yA Thank you for contacting us 😉
Beth Sachs says
I was born in the 80s and most definitely remember Butterscotch tart. I'm going to make this for the kids at the weekend, it looks delicious!
Kay says
Hi Beth
You have to love the 80s and this brings back so many good memories of my childhood 🙂
Hope you enjoy this recipe!!
Enjoy
Donna says
Hi Kay
Can you freeze these butterscotch tarts?
Kay says
Hi Donna
This butterscotch tart will keep for 4 days when kept covered in the fridge.
It is best made fresh, but if you really needed to, it can be frozen!
You can keep it in the freezer for up to 3 months and defrost it overnight in the fridge.
Hope this helps?
Luke
Sumit says
Well written recipe. Loved the fantastic rich sticky, butterscotch tart.
Kay says
Hi Sumit
Thanks for the kind words, hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we all did 🙂
Mahy says
Fantastic tart! That texture is just the way I like it, and the result is outstanding. I wonder if I can replicate it straight away... 🙂
Kay says
Thank you so much for the comment and rating 🙂
Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Enjoy
Kate says
Was delighted to find this recipe. Almost exactly like my favourite school pudding. It really is delicious and brings back fond memories of primary school. No need for anything else just straight up is perfect.
Luke says
Hi Kate
Thank you for the comment and rating, it really is appreciated!!
We are glad you liked the recipe and brought back the same memories for you, that it did for us 🙂
If you like old school recipes, check out our new recipe, Cheese and Mashed potato pie which is another comfort recipe we made based on what we had at school!
Enjoy!!
Sue says
Made this today, following the recipe carefully. It tastes delicious, but even after 5 hours in the fridge it didn't set.
Not sure what went wrong 😔
Luke says
Hi Sue
It's so disappointing when it goes wrong!
The flour is what thickens it up and 4 tbsp always works for me?
Maybe add an extra tbsp next time to get it a bit thicker? Or use less milk?
Did you keep it on the heat whilst you added the flour paste?
It should thicken whilst on the heat so add more flour and stir as you go.
Thank you for your feedback, I hope these tips will work for you next time?
Kay & Luke
Aimee says
Made this today, I've just put it in the fridge to set, how ever I'm a bit concerned as it still seemed rather runny even after adding the flour mixture, i use the flour method when making white sauce so i know it works but i usually eyeball it with that haha, hopefully it turns out ok
Luke says
Hi Aimee
I'm confident your butterscotch tart would have firmed up once you take it out of the fridge, fingers crossed!!
Hope you enjoy the recipe and let us know how it was?
Many thanks, Luke and Kay
Andrea Parker says
Are you sure its 4 tbsp of flour that you add to the mixture as I watched a video and she only put 4 tsps of flour in . Mine was thick and lumpy with 4 tbsp !
Luke says
Sorry, I missed this message before? Yes it is definitely 4 tbsp of flour, if you mix the flour with 6tbsp of milk into a smooth paste, it should not be lumpy? Once it is smooth slowly pour into the butter and sugar mixture, whilst stirring. The flour works to thicken the butterscotch filling.
Loreal says
Hi how much milk and flour and butter goes into the butterscotch because at the top it just says200g of flour does that mean 100g for pastry and 100g for the butterscotch bit?thanks x
Luke says
Hi, for the butterscotch filling of the tart you will only need 4tbsp of flour. I can't see where it says 200g of flour?
Is that for the actual Sweet Shortcrust Tart if you make your own tart case?