House: Hufflepuff
Year: First Year
Category: Drabble
Prompt: [Action] - Cooking with Muggles as a Witch/Wizard
Word Count: 950
Title: Treacle Tart
Rating: K
Beta(s): Verity, Bailey
Warnings: None
Author Notes: Not sure if this is considered AU. British English please for SP+G. Andromeda is around 19 in this story and Ted nickname for her is 'Andy'. I gave Ted Tonks' mother a name, Beatrice after the British and Dutch members of royalty. I thought it would suit the British theme of the books. She also has a British accent which accounts for some of the strange sayings. Get stuck in means to start something. Rubbing in is what we say here, you all might have heard of cutting in (butter). Also, a soggy bottom in this sense means 'uncooked', and "what's say we.. means what do you say we etc, more slang.
.
A Spot of Tea and Treacle Tart
.
Today was a very big day for Andromeda Black. As a Black, striking a good match meant everything. Andromeda knew, if her mother had her way, she would only ever be a trophy wife for her husband, raising their children to be good little heirs.
When she met Ted, everything changed. With Ted, she could be herself – something that was not encouraged by the Black family.
Andromeda hesitantly took the leap of faith, knowing full well she could be disowned. While this saddened her, Ted was definitely worth it. She honestly didn't mind that Ted was a Muggle-born and his parents, Muggles. Today was about embracing a new way of life because she would be meeting his parents.
When she knocked, she was greeted by a middle-aged lady, presumably Ted's mother, Beatrice.
She shook Andromeda's hand softly and smiled. "You must be Andromeda, Ted's told us all about you. Come in, dear. I've just put the kettle on."
Andromeda thanked her and stepped inside, marvelling at the warm, homey atmosphere. It was filled with pictures of the Tonks family. Andromeda smiled to herself as she mused, 'Not a severed house elf head in sight!'
She had pestered Ted for any information that might help her carry on a polite conversation with his mother. Andromeda knew she liked cats, the colour blue, and treacle tart.
"Mum? Is that Andy?" Both women looked up at the sound of Ted's voice coming from the kitchen. "Come on you two, I've got a surprise here."
In the kitchen, Ted was waiting. He gave Andromeda a quick hug and whispered in her ear, "Follow my lead."
"Mum, I've let Andy in on a little secret," Ted announced, causing Beatrice to eye her son suspiciously. "I've told her how much you love treacle tart, and Andromeda's going to help us make one."
Beatrice beamed at Andromeda before addressing her son. "Is that what you've been fiddling with?"
"Of course! Lets get stuck in, shall we?" Ted said, revealing the counter top full of weighed out ingredients.
Andromeda laughed, "Only if you help, Beatrice. Please."
Andromeda got to work mixing the dry ingredients by hand in a large bowl. Adding salt to the flour, she began rubbing in cubes of butter. As the ingredients started to clump like breadcrumbs, she began adding ice cold water, little by little, until the dough started to come together in a ball. Patting out the finished dough, she placed it on a plate. Ted covered it with some cling film and popped it in the fridge to settle for thirty minutes. Andromeda quickly washed her hands.
"Mum, do you want to show Andy how you make the filling while that's settling? You have your own tricks, and I'm sure she would love to learn," asked Ted, throwing a goofy smile at his mother.
"Of course, Ted. I make it how my mother showed me. It's a lovely thing to pass recipes down through generations." Andromeda's eyes widened at the subtle implication, but when Ted beamed at his mother, she realised Beatrice was quite happy with the match. The twinkle in her eye was proof enough.
"I'll get things started here if you can sort out the stove," Andromeda replied. This was her clever way of asking for help; she had never use a Muggle oven before. Ted got the message and turned on the stove and began preheating the oven. Together they managed to hide Andromeda's awkwardness from his approaching mother.
"Now dear, I'll show you how to make the best filling." Beatrice busied herself melting the butter as Andromeda watched, entranced. "Most people say you should use white breadcrumbs, but I feel brown adds more of a malt flavour. And I add extra black treacle since we love the taste of liquorice, dear."
Andromeda laughed.
She added the golden syrup to the melted butter, and Beatrice added the generous helping of black treacle to the mix. She then added lemon zest, cream and an egg yolk. Stirring until it was thoroughly mixed, Beatrice set it aside.
Beside them, Ted was busy rolling out the dough. When it was a flat round disk, he greased up the tin and added the rolled out dough. He then egg washed it and covered it in foil before putting it in the oven.
Beatrice smiled in approval."That's perfect, son."
Beatrice then smiled at her student, Andy, who was paying close attention. "Some people add the filling right away, but you're more likely to end up with a soggy bottom, dear. It ruins it, if I'm honest. Adding foil keeps it lovely and soft."
Fifteen minutes passed relatively quickly. Ted removed the foil and baked the pastry for five more minutes. Andromeda kept stirring the syrup mix.
When Ted removed the golden pastry from the oven, he added the breadcrumbs evenly to the pastry. Carefully, Andromeda poured the syrup over the breadcrumbs.
"Lovely!" said Beatrice. "Now it needs twenty minutes in the oven before I have to turn down the heat for another twenty minutes. It'll set but still be soft."
Andromeda peeped in the window of the oven, marvelling at what she had helped create. "Ted was right. You're an amazing teacher."
"Thank you dear. I've a lot more to teach, if you're willing to learn," Beatrice replied.
Ted kissed Andromeda and smiled at his mother. "Now, what's say we go have that spot of tea?"
Andromeda smiled before following them to the table. She felt more relaxed than she could remember. Maybe being a Tonks wouldn't be so bad.
Besides, she was looking forward to enjoying a nice slice of that treacle tart.
