Walnut Tart
- Total Time
- 40 minutes (with premade crust), plus chilling
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1stick butter, more for smearing foil
- 1unbaked pastry shell in a 9-inch pie pan
- 1½cups sugar
- ½cup cream
- 2½cups roughly chopped walnuts (there should be large chunks)
- Salt to taste
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)
436 calories; 33 grams fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 15 grams polyunsaturated fat; 35 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 31 grams sugars; 5 grams protein; 195 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Tear off a piece of foil twice as large as crust. Fold it in half and smear it with butter; lay buttered side onto crust. Weight foil with a pile of dried beans or rice (these can be reused for this purpose), pie weights, or a tight-fitting ovenproof skillet or saucepan — anything that will sit flat on the surface. Bake 12 minutes, then remove foil and continue to bake at 350 degrees, until crust is a beautiful shade of brown, another few minutes. Remove and let cool on a rack while you prepare filling.
- Step 2
Put sugar in a heavy 6- or 8-inch saucepan or deep skillet with a tablespoon of water and turn heat to medium. Cook, gently shaking pan occasionally, until sugar melts; then cook, stirring occasionally and scraping sides with a heat-proof flexible spatula, until mixture turns golden.
- Step 3
Turn heat to low, then carefully add butter and cream. Cook, stirring constantly, until butter melts and mixture is uniform. Stir in walnuts and a large pinch of salt if you like, then spread on crust. Refrigerate for about an hour, then sprinkle with a little more salt and serve.
Private Notes
Comments
In the original published recipe, Mark Bittman suggested a layer of chocolate under the walnut filling. We've used melted bittersweet chocolate to great success.
This is good -- but very, very, very sweet. You should be warned, unless you've got the sickest sweet tooth ever, that this will be too sweet. I love toffee and walnuts, basically this recipe if you heat it more, and this was still too sweet for me. This is like, crack pie. You can feel the sugar in one bite. Actually, it's delicious for one bite. But that's all I can eat before I feel like I'm having a sugar overdose.
Anyone who knows how to make caramel knows that 1 TBSP of water is unnecessary, though it does help beginners. Adding 5 TBSP water makes the sugar dissolve too quickly and depending on the heat, the pan, and stirring or lack thereof, the sugar mixture may crystallize rather than turning into a smooth, silky caramel. The water is released as steam, and adding 5 TBSP of water slows the cooking process for the caramel.
The one tablespoon of water is plenty. It just takes some patience. I think I would toast the walnuts next time; the pie has too much of a raw walnut flavor. I would also reduce the walnuts by half a cup. It is very sweet to be sure.
Better with some chocolate and whipped cream!
The sugar melting is tricky. Don’t stir it too much but if you do, like I did, be patient and it might come around. This was a bit too much filling for my small crust so it overflowed. We are going to eat it burnt sugar soggy crust and all and still be very happy.
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