Ingredients
| CARAMEL NUT FILLING | |
| 1 batch sweet almond pastry (see recipe), baked into ten 7cm (2¾ inch) tart shells | |
| 125g (4½ oz) macadamia nuts | |
| 80g (2¾ oz) hazelnuts | |
| 50g (1¾ oz) almonds | |
| 250g (9 oz) caster (superfine) sugar | |
| 165ml (5½ fl oz) thickened (whipping) cream | |
| 40g (1½ oz) unsalted butter | |
| 1 tablespoon vanilla extract | |
| ½ teaspoon sea salt flakes | |
| SWEET ALMOND, PISTACHIO OR HAZELNUT PASTRY makes one 30cm (12 inch) tart shell, two 23cm (9 inch) tart shells, ten 8cm (3¼ inch) mini tart shells or ten 7cm (2¾ inch) mini tart shells | |
| 200g (7 oz) unsalted butter, softened | |
| 120g (4¼ oz) icing (confectioners’) sugar | |
| 60g (2¼ oz) egg yolks | |
| pinch of salt | |
| 280g (10 oz) plain flour, plus extra for dusting | |
| 100g (3½ oz) almond, pistachio or hazelnut meal (see Tip) | |
| 1 egg yolk, extra, for brushing |
This is a sort of cross between pecan pie and nutty millionaire shortbread – nutty, caramelly, sweet and bitter. I’ve made this one using a combination of macadamias, hazelnuts and almonds, but you can use any nut combination you like – peanuts and pecans are a natural pair. Serve the tart with a dark chocolate ice cream for a really luxe dessert.
SWEET ALMOND, PISTACHIO OR HAZELNUT PASTRY
I’ve lumped these three nuts together because they are interchangeable in this pastry. Use any nut meal you love – these three, in my opinion, are the most flavoursome nuts and pack the most punch. Roasting the nuts before grinding them into a meal will see their flavour at the forefront of the pastry. If you skip the roasting, you will instead get a more mellow flavour with all of the benefits of the lovely sandy texture that nut meal adds. This pastry is best made a day in advance, refrigerated overnight and then massaged back into a pliable, workable dough when you are ready to use it.
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Instructions
| 1. | CARAMEL NUT FILLING |
| 2. | Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). |
| 3. | Spread the nuts over a baking tray and toast in the oven for 10–12 minutes or until they are lightly golden. Set aside to cool, but leave the oven on. |
| 4. | Tip the sugar into a saucepan and stir over medium–high heat until the sugar has caramelised to a deep golden brown. |
| 5. | Add the cream and butter to create a caramel – be careful as this will splutter. |
| 6. | Bring the caramel to the boil to ensure the sugar is well dissolved, then remove from the heat. |
| 7. | Add the vanilla and salt and stir to combine, then stir in the toasted nuts. |
| 8. | Pour the nutty caramel into the baked tart shells and bake for 15 minutes. |
| 9. | Allow the tarts to cool completely so that the caramel sets before serving. |
| 10. | SWEET ALMOND, PISTACHIO OR HAZELNUT PASTRY |
| 11. | Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter, icing sugar, egg yolks and salt together until evenly combined and smooth – you don’t want aeration here, just a nice cohesive mass. |
| 12. | Be sure to scrape down the side of the bowl to ensure the mixture is evenly combined. |
| 13. | Add the flour and nut meal and mix until the ingredients come together into a soft dough. |
| 14. | Turn the dough out of the bowl and use your hands to bring it together into a ball. |
| 15. | Flatten the pastry into a disc, wrap it in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for 1–2 hours (preferably overnight). |
| 16. | Put the chilled pastry on your lightly floured bench and massage it into a pliable dough. |
| 17. | Roll out the pastry until it’s 3mm (⅛ inch) thick and about 5cm (2 inches) larger than the tin or tins (just a guesstimate works here – don’t go getting out a ruler!). |
| 18. | Trim away any uneven edges to reduce tearing, and reserve any leftover pastry. |
| 19. | Drape the pastry over your rolling pin, gently lower it into the tin and press it into the edges. |
| 20. | Put the pastry in the fridge to chill for a further 15–20 minutes before baking. |
| 21. | Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). |
| 22. | Line the pastry with baking paper and weigh it down with baking weights or rice. |
| 23. | Bake the pastry for 35–45 minutes for a 30cm tart shell, 30–35 minutes for two 23cm tart shells or 8–12 minutes for mini tart shells, removing the paper and weights halfway through cooking. |
| 24. | You want the pastry to be a beautiful, deep golden brown all over. |
| 25. | If you find any little holes in your pastry case, fill them with some of the leftover pastry and return the pastry to the oven for 2 minutes – if you don’t, the filling will leak out of the shell. |
| 26. | Finally, egg wash the hot pastry – whisk the egg yolk with 2 tablespoons water and evenly brush it over the surface. |
| 27. | The residual heat will cook the egg wash and seal the pastry. Allow the pastry to cool completely before filling. |
Images and text from
First, Cream the Butter
and Sugar by Emelia
Jackson, photography
by Armelle Habib.
Murdoch Books
RRP $69.99.