Toasted Nut Tart Recipes

TOASTED NUT TART

Steps:

• For crust:
• Whisk 1 cup flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar, and powdered sugar in another medium bowl until pale yellow and well blended, about 3 minutes. Add egg; beat to blend, occasionally scraping bowl. Add dry ingredients in 3 batches, beating just to blend between additions. Gather dough into a ball; flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 1 hour. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.
• Preheat oven to 375°F. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to a 12" round. Transfer to pan. Press onto bottom and up sides of pan. Trim dough flush with top of pan (reserve any scraps in case needed for patching crust after baking). Prick dough all over with a fork and freeze for 10 minutes.
• Line chilled tart shell with foil or parchment paper, leaving a 1" overhang. Fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until edges of crust are just beginning to turn golden brown, 35-40 minutes. Remove foil and pie weights. Patch any cracks in crust with reserved dough. Return to oven; continue baking until golden all over, 15-20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Store airtight in pan at room temperature.
• For filling:
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Place tart pan on a rimmed baking sheet; set aside. Spread out pistachios, hazelnuts, and pine nuts on 3 separate small rimmed baking sheets. Toast nuts until fragrant and light brown, about 5 minutes for pistachios, 10 minutes for pine nuts, and 20 minutes for hazelnuts. Let nuts cool completely.
• Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until golden-brown bits form on bottom of pan, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Stir brown sugar, corn syrup, salt, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Stir in eggs, then whisk in browned butter. Fold in nuts. Pour filling into tart shell.
• Bake tart, rotating pan halfway through, until filling is set around edges and jiggles slightly in center when nudged, about 1 hour. Loosely tent foil over tart if crust gets too dark. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Let stand at room temperature. Dust with powdered sugar just before serving. Serve with pistachio or hazelnut gelato, if desired.

CARAMEL NUT TART

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine flour and salt; cut in cream cheese and butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Gradually add water, tossing with a fork until dough forms a ball. , Roll out dough into a 10-in. circle. Press onto the bottom and up the sides of an ungreased 9-in. fluted tart pan with a removable bottom; trim edges., Line unpricked crust with a double layer of heavy-duty foil. Bake at 450° for 8 minutes. Remove foil; bake 5 minutes longer. Cool on a wire rack. Reduce heat to 400°., For filling, in a small heavy saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar and corn syrup. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat; stir in nuts and vanilla. Spread into crust. , Place tart pan on a baking sheet. Bake until bubbly, for 15-20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

NUT COOKIE TARTLETS

Steps:

• To make Pastry: Cream together butter and cream cheese. Add the 6 tablespoons white sugar, 2 cups flour and blend well.
• Shape into balls about 1 inch in diameter (flour palms of hands to facilitate rolling). Place ball in greased tartlet pan and flatten. Should fill pan by 3/4.
• To Make Filling: Mix together vanilla, egg, brown sugar, and chopped nuts.
• After flattening ball in tartlet tin make a thumb print in center and fill with a full 1/2 teaspoon of nut filling.
• Bake in a 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven for 17 to 20 minutes. Cool completely before removing from pan.

CHOCOLATE-MACADAMIA NUT TART

Steps:

• Pate Sucree:In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour and sugar. Add butter, and process until mixture resembles coarse meal, 10 to 20 seconds. In a small bowl, lightly beat egg yolks; add ice water. With machine running, add the egg mixture in a slow, steady stream through the feed tube. Pulse until dough holds together without being wet or sticky; be careful not to process more than 30 seconds. To test, squeeze a small amount together: If it is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Divide dough into two equal balls. Flatten each ball into a disk, and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate at least 1 hour. Dough may be frozen up to 1 month. To thaw, transfer disks to refrigerator overnight, or let stand at room temperature 1 hour.
• Tart:Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll out one disk of pate sucree to a 14-inch round, about 1/8 inch thick (reserve remaining disk for another use). Fit into an 11-inch round tart pan with removable bottom; trim dough flush with rim. Use trimmings to patch any thin spots in shell. Refrigerate 30 minutes or up to overnight.
• Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, and bourbon until combined. Whisk in flour and salt, then whisk in butter. Stir in chocolate until combined. Pour mixture into chilled tart shell. Cover top with nuts, pressing them halfway down into the filling.
• Bake 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking until crust and filling are golden, about 35 minutes more. If tart is browning too quickly, tent with aluminum foil. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cool completely. Tart can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 days.

PINE NUT TART

Steps:

• For the tart crust: Add the flour, granulated sugar and salt to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until combined. Add the butter and pulse until small pebbles form. With the machine running, add the egg yolk, vanilla and water and pulse until the dough just comes together. Remove to a piece of plastic wrap and press together into a dough ball. Flatten into a disk then refrigerate, at least 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the honey and pine nut filling: Add the honey, brown sugar and salt to a medium saucepan over medium heat and whisk to combine. Cook, whisking occasionally, until the sugar melts, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the butter and whisk until melted. Pour the mixture into a large bowl and allow to cool for 25 to 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to a 13-inch circle and place in an 11-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Chill 30 more minutes.
• Prick the bottom of the tart with a fork. Place a piece of parchment in the center of the tart and fill all the way to the top with dried beans. Bake until the crust is set but still slightly pale, about 15 minutes. Allow to cool, then remove the parchment and beans.
• Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.
• Meanwhile, whisk the heavy cream, egg yolk, lemon zest and juice into the cooled filling. Place the cooled tart shell on a rimmed baking sheet and scatter the pine nuts inside the shell. Evenly pour the filling into the tart crust and bake until the top is golden brown, the filling is set and the very center still has a slight jiggle, 50 to 60 minutes.
• Cool completely before slicing, at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour. Serve dusted with confectioners' sugar.