Sunday 27 February 2011

Walnut Tart

Walnuts are not my favourite nuts. Cashews and pistachio, I love. I was cleaning my cupboard yesterday and I found a semi-big bag of walnuts which I can't remember buying. Have you done that? Bought something, stored it and then found it months later and can't remember how it got there in the first place.

I normally stay away from making pastry, but this is actually very easy to do and delicious. The pastry/biscuit-like base was buttery, crumbly and nutty. And the caramel-y, sticky, walnut-y topping is actually rather tasty too. So, here's the recipe:


Walnut Tart
Recipe by Stéphane Reynaud
Serves 6

For the pastry
150 g butter
200 g plain flour
100 g sugar
100 g ground almonds
1 egg

For the filling
150 g sugar
50 g lightly salted butter
100 ml pouring (whipping) cream
200 g walnuts

For the pastry, dice the butter and let it soften at room temperature. Combine the flour, sugar and ground almonds, add the butter and work the pastry together with the palm of your hand, add the egg and repeat the process. Wrap the pastry in cling and chill for an hour. The chilled pastry will be easier to handle, since the butter will have become more solid.

Preheat the oven to 180 C. When pastry is nice and chilled, roll into a thin circle (24 cm diameter) on a piece of baking paper, bake for about 20 minutes - it should be a good golden brown.

To make the filling, put the sugar in heavy saucepan with 1 tablespoon of water until the caramel is golden brown and translucent. At that point, add the butter and cream and cook for a further couple minutes so that the mixture becomes smooth, add the walnuts. Pour the mixture onto the tart base. Allow to cool, then serve.


My new friend, Ann at Apples and Twinkies recently presented me with a Stylish Blogger Award. At her blog, Ann shares her passion for food. She loves every aspect of it, shopping for food, watching food programmes, reading about food and most importantly I think: eating. There are plenty of delicious family-style recipes you can find at her blog.


One of the rules when accepting Stylish Blogger Award is I must tell you, 7 things about myself, and they are:

  1. I like a bit of lumps in my mashed potatoes. I don't why I'm telling you this, but it's one of the first things that came up in my head.
  2. I used to dislike mustard, and now it's my 'I-cannot-live-without' condiments. I have all kinds of mustards in my fridge and cupboard, American yellow, Dijon, whole-grain, English and brown.
  3. I love Wall-E and I start to collect Toy Story figures. I am a child.
  4. I am punctual. I don't like people waiting for me and I don't like waiting either.
  5. I organised my clothes by colours and I also have a drawer for miscellaneous items (clothings with multiple colours or patterns). 
  6. At the gym, I secretly try to outrun the people around me. 
  7. I have a dog, Molly who lives with my parents. I miss her.
Molly....

Thank you again Ann for the award. I am well-flattered. 

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday everyone.

19 comments:

  1. I am notorious for finding food items months later that I have stuffed in my pantry. Nuts are typically one of those items. I enjoy a variety of nuts including, walnuts ( your least favorite) . Your walnut tart would be delightful as a light dessert or as a breakfast pastry with coffee.

    As always, your recipes are great.

    Velva

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  2. I just love Molly, what a face.

    I bet almost everyone has walnuts after the holidays! This looks great.

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  3. Not your favourite nut? They are mine! This tart is perfect for me. Hallo Molly :-))

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  4. That's an quite a nutty tart! Looks delicious. What a pretty Molly!

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  5. Walnut has such great flavors. You should give walnuts as a second chance. I use walnut especially in salads and great for soup garnishes.

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  6. The tart looks wonderful. It reminds me a little of a pecan pie. Molly is a adorable!!! :)

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  7. great tart and what an adorable dog :-0

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  8. I love walnuts. But not my children. Love your walnut tart. I think I'll make a small one and enjoy it alone :D

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  9. Congratulations on the award Michael! I'm a punctual person too...I HATE being even 2 minutes late!! lol
    The tart looks lovely! I would love to have a slice of that right now.

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  10. Going to make it this week! They're big on walnuts (noix) here in the South of France, and as our local bakery is closed for renovations my neighbours might appreciate a slice or two : )

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  11. Michael, the walnut tart looks delicious, specially with the almond crust :-) Now I know more about you...and Molly is so cute. Have a great week ahead ;-)

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  12. Love this walnut tart! It looks easy to make and just perfect:)Happy Monday, Michael:)

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  13. You are just adorable...I love Wall-e too, and your sweet pooch is too cute. I also am not the biggest fan of walnuts, but this tart looks too good to pass up. Thanks for sharing such a tasty sweet. I hope you had a great Monday...and that tomorrow is even better!

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  14. A walnut tart? I wonder how this would translate with other types of nuts? Your pup is too adorable by the way!

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  15. Molly is the cutest!! Congrats on your award, Michael and oh yeah, your walnut tart is to die for. Unlike you, I really like walnuts so this tart is right up my alley. Thanks for sharing, young man!

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  16. This walnut cake looks divine!! YUM!!!

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  17. I love walnuts - especially in baked goods! This showcases them so well - delicious! Thanks for sharing those tidbits about yourself!

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  18. Walnuts are not my favorite either, but your tart looks delicious! I am cracking up about the lumps in the mashed potatoes, I like them that was too :) And Molly is so adorable...
    Congratulations on the award :)

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  19. Congrats on the award! Molly is so cute!

    That tart looks delicious! It reminds me of the caramel pecan cinnabon. Yum!!

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