Caramelized Walnut Tart al'orange
INGREDIENTS
- Servings: 8-12
- 1/2 Recipe Pate Brisee in a 9 inch pie plate
- 1 1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 2 TB Orange Blossom Water
- 3/4 cup Heavy Cream
- 8 TB Unsalted butter; plus extra for parchment or foil
- Zest of 1 Orange or 1/4 tsp orange oil
- 2 1/2 Cup Walnuts; Rough Chop
- Large pinch of Salt
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- Prepare Pate Brisee and line a 9 inch pie plate.
- Line the pie shell with buttered foil or parchment and add dried beans or pie weights.
- Bake 10 -12 minutes
- Remove weights and foil/parchment, reduce heat to 350 and bake until crust is golden - about 5 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack while you cook the filling.
- Combine sugar and orange blossom water in a 6 or 8-inch heavy bottomed saucepan and place over medium flame.
- Cook, shaking pan occasionally, until sugar melts; continue cooking, stirring occasionally and scraping sides with a flexible spatula, until mixture turns golden. Don't let it get too dark.
- Reduce the flame to low, and then carefully add cream and the butter, in chunks while whisking the mixture.
- Careful, it will sputter and spit.
- Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until butter melts and mixture is uniform.
- Stir in walnuts, orange zest and a large pinch of salt.
- Spread the hot filling into the cooled tart shell, evenly.
- Refrigerate for about an hour to allow the filling to set.
- To serve: Either sprinkle with a little Fleur de Sel or Sel Gris (as I did) -or-
- Prepare UN-sweetened whipped heavy cream with a drop or two of Cointreau and the zest of 1/2 orange.
- Serves 8 - 12
RECIPE BACKSTORY
I wanted to use up some walnuts, so I thought about making a pie... I didn't think that I could just make a pecan pie and substitute walnuts since the molasses in the pie has a tannic flavor, which is great when using pecans, but walnuts have that tannic flavor too. I thought it might come out a little "sour". So I opted for a filling based on caramel instead of molasses... Of course, that made me think of Orange caramels, and suddenly Voila!!


