Black treacle is the dark, thick, bittersweet cane syrup that is essentially the British name for dark molasses — the near-black liquor drawn off when raw sugar is crystallised out of boiled cane juice. Intensely sweet but cut with a real bitterness and a smoky, mineral, faintly burnt edge, it is the defining flavour of British baking: treacle tart, sticky parkin and gingerbread, treacle toffee and dark fruitcakes. It is the dark, robust cousin of pale golden syrup, the two together making up the family of "treacle" sold in the familiar green-and-gold tin.