Black treacle applications: modern takes on tradition
Exploring innovative new uses of an iconic pure sugar product
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Black
Treacle
Dark, viscous syrup with a more rounded and smoother flavour than molasses.
What are the applications of black treacle?
Due to its intense flavour, dark colour and bitter-sweet taste, black treacle is usually found in baked goods such as Christmas puddings, fruit cakes, parkin and gingerbread, as well as liquorice sweets and treacle toffee.
It is also deployed in savoury applications, helping to form the flavour of smoky marinades for meat or fish. Black treacle is even used by brewers, especially when producing mild ales.
Tasting notes
Strong, rich flavour that is comparable to bitter-sweet molasses but slightly more rounded.
The high molasses content of black treacle means it contains nutrients and minerals including:
- Vitamin B6
- Calcium
- Potassium
- Magnesium
- Sulphur
Storage and packaging
Storage temperature
15 – 20⁰C
Shelf life
Crystallisation (18 months); microbiology (18 months)
Packaging and storage options
Bulk tankers, intermediate bulk containers (IBCs) and 25kg pails
Properties
| Description | Approx. (on sample) |
|---|---|
| Sucrose | 25 – 30% |
| Invert sugar | 29 – 34% |
| Moisture | 20 – 21% |
| Dry material | 79 – 80% |
| Sulphur dioxide | <9ppm |
| Refractometer brix | 80.0 – 81.0 |
| pH | 4.7 – 6.3 |
How is black treacle produced?
At the cane refining mill, sugar cane is stripped of its leaves and then crushed to extract its sucrose content. This juice is then boiled, meaning sugar crystals form, and leaving a highly concentrated sugar syrup. After being boiled twice more, the resulting liquid is cane molasses.
Most of the remaining crystallised sucrose is then removed in a centrifuge, which separates the crystals from the molasses’ adhering film. This production process helps to retain all the essential nutrients found in sugar cane in the final black treacle.
Ragus sources molasses from a range of certified mills and refineries around the world. After being shipped to the UK on tanker ships, it arrives at our production facility in temperature-controlled road tankers. At this stage, the raw molasses is not suitable for use in food, so it is pumped into evaporating vats. Here, it is heated to over 80˚C, purified, and the sugar content and acidity level are adjusted.
Next, the cane molasses is passed through a 300-micron filter, which removes any remaining impurities. After this, it is cooled to an exact temperature and stored in holding tanks. Once matured, the cane molasses is loaded into inversion pans and blended with refiner’s syrup, producing black treacle. This is then decanted through an 80-micron filter, before being packaged, ready for transportation to customers.
Food safety
All our sugar syrup production adopts BRC standard procedures including HACCP and undergoes a process of temperature/time, filtration, and final stage 300-micron filter prior to packing.
