Maple Pecan Tartlets (And When Things Could Go Better)

Hazelnut cardamom "tartlets"

I have a hard time screwing up. Sometimes I cry, often I break things, and if I'm not snappy then I'm hysterical. Shown are some hazelnut, cardamom, honey tartlets that I absolutely effed up three times in a row (in the same night!). Not shown is my poor little dented tartlet pan bottom that I banged repeatedly and frustratedly with a fork while trying to dislodge a stuck, curdled tart. The truth behind my kitchen is that I'm thrilled with about 80% of what I bake and totally mortified by the rest of it, and usually I only blog about what turned out awesome. I've done a lot of bake sales and events in DC since participating in that first bake sale way back when, and I've always been proud of my contributions. This makes me pretty lucky as far as sharing what I love goes, but I have yet to learn how to troubleshoot or recover when things go disastrously. If there was any day to know how to screw up gracefully, it would have been last Saturday.

Maple pecan tartlets. Say it proud!

Before the Punk Rock Flea Market, my pumpkin whoopie pies fell flat, I broke my favorite dish, broke my oven thermometer, broke the sink, and I'm pretty sure that our new oven is out of whack, so maybe I broke that too. I burned cookies, underbaked cookies, over-diluted icing, ran out of butter, lost a tartlet pan bottom, dropped stuff on the floor, and didn't bake my maple pecan tartlets with enough time to allow them to set. Panicked, I called my sister who counseled me to save what I could and walk away from the rest; "remove the stress," she said. And I did! And she was right! In the end, I donated four potato-gruyere tartlets and two dozen cookies (less than half of what I had planned to sell) with moderate success, and Joey and I spent a killer day thrifting and eating food made by others. I learned that if I must mess up, then I shouldn't agonize over it or smash my tartlet pans with a fork. I'll save what I can and walk away from the rest and hey, who knows, maybe by the time I get back, my maple pecan tarts will be set and they will taste so dang good that any anguish will have almost been worth it. Plus, I'll relearn for the umpteenth time that rushing through the kitchen is no way to bake; lesson learned (again).

Maple Pecan Tartlets

Adapted from Gourmet

Makes six tartlets, but could be adapted for one nine-inch tart.

These would be super for Thanksgiving. I love maple with most of my soul, and it's great and gooey with the pecans. The original recipe calls for maple sugar, but since it's so pricey and there's already maple syrup in the tartlets, I opted for tubrinando sugar. I don't think these needed any help in the maple department, but if you've got maple sugar lying around (you luxurious animal!), you might try it.

For the tartlet shells

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 stick plus 1 tablespoon very cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1.  In the bowl of a food processor, add flour, sugar, and salt, pulse once to blend. Sprinkle the cold butter across the top and pulse several times until mixture has some pea-sized lumps of butter and some oatmeal flake-sized lumps of butter. Do not overmix. Add the egg a little bit at a time, pulsing after each addition. Once it's all in, process in long pulses--about ten seconds each--until mixture comes together in clumps. Shortly before this stage, the processor will make a different, deeper sound; that's how you know the dough is about to be ready.

2.  Dump the contents of the processor onto a lightly floured surface, and using your hands, gently incorporate any ingredients that didn't get mixed in. Flatten dough into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, about two hours.  After the dough has chilled, divide into six equal rounds. Roll out each round to a five-inch diameter and gently line your tartlet shells with the rounds. Either trim the overhang or tuck it down for a double wall of crust (what I do). Pop them into the freezer for 30 minutes to chill thoroughly (this helps prevent the crusts from shrinking).

For the filling

2 large eggs

1/2 cup Grade B maple syrup (the good shtuff)

6 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

3 tablespoons maple sugar (I used turbinando)

1 1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Rounded 1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup pecans, 2/3 cup finely chopped and 1/3 cup coarsely chopped

1.  Preheat oven to 370 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with foil, and line each of the frozen crusts of the tartlets with a square of lightly buttered foil, shiny side down. Bake the tartlet shells for ten minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional seven to ten minutes, or until the edges are slightly gold.  Remove and let cool (in pans) for about 15 minutes.

2.  Increase the temperature to 375 degrees. As crusts are cooling, whisk the eggs, syrup, sugars, vinegar, and salt in a medium sized bowl. Make sure that everything is evenly mixed.  Put the tartlet crusts on the cookie sheet, and evenly distribute the finely chopped pecans to each of the shells. Then evenly distribute the filling among the shells, and top with the remaining large pieces of pecans. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes until filling is just set. Remove and cool on racks for at least 15 minutes and up to 30, until filling has firmed somewhat. Serve warm or at room temperature, possibly with bourbon whipped cream.

Punk Rock Flea Market and Bake Sale: This Saturday!

If you're in the Washington, DC area this weekend, please come to Positive Force DC's Punk Rock Flea Market at St. Stephen's Church on Saturday! Positive Force DC is an awesome organization that works throughout the city to build community and help people in need, and it's a huge supporter of local arts and events. The flea market benefits Positive Force, and there is going to be a heap of local crafts, art, music (by True Womanhood, Imperial China, Tereu Tereu), and food, including baked goods made by myself and others! I'll be offering some brand-new baked goods, one with about a bucket of maple syrup, and the other with some salty-as-shit gruyere for the savory crowd. Please join us, and come meet other awesome folks about town who are dedicating their Saturday to a great cause! 

Espresso Chocolate Shortbread Cookies and Radio CPR Record Sale

A little more than a year ago, I was lamenting the District (I was so misguided!) while proffering the Radio CPR Record Sale as a rare form of social recourse (I was so correct!), and this year the radical ladies (one in particular) who power the station were kind enough to let me contribute to the sale again.  Two veteran baked goods soldiers continued their history of wowing, but this year I also offered a new recipe of vegan granola bars with a plethora of nuts and sticky things keeping 'em together and some espresso chocolate shortbread cookies that are like a double shot of caffeine and awesome straight to your heart.

And really, the heart doctor business must be booming.  The past three weeks might have limped along on the chronicling front here, but there's butter/batter a'beating in my kitchen nearly every day. In spite of jam-packed days and a few spectacular failures, I've emerged from my sweltering kitchen armed with a handful of buttery, awesome recipes to share.  These espresso chocolate shortbread cookies are numero uno, and if you live and die for butter and coffee (me too!), you very much must make them. 

Espresso Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan who says they make 32, but my method (madness?) made only 18

1 tablespoon instant espresso power

1 tablespoon boiling water

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup powdered sugar

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I guesstimated from a Ghiradelli bag and probably used closer to 5 ounces), finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt (Kari addition)

Additional powdered sugar for dusting, if you like

1.  Dissolve the espresso in the boiling water and set aside to cool to room temperature. 

2.  In a large bowl, beat the butter and powdered sugar together on medium high for about three minutes, until very smooth and somewhat pale. Beat in the vanilla and espresso, then reduce the speed to low and add the flour and salt, mixing only just until the flour disappears into the dough. Do not overwork the mixture. Fold in the chopped chocolate with a rubber spatula.

3.  Scoop the dough into a gallon-sized zipper-lock plastic bag. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a 9" x 10 1/2" rectangle that's 1/4" thick -- your rectangle should take up about half the bag.  Make sure the dough has even thickness throughout, seal, and the pop it flat into the fridge for at least two hours and up to two days.

4.  Position the racks to divide the oven in thirds and preheat to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove the dough from the fridge, cut the plastic bag away, and, using a ruler to guide you, slice the dough in 1 1/2" squares. Space the cookie squares one inch apart on the sheets, and then make two sets of fork marks in each cookie, gently pressing the tines all the way through the dough until they hit they sheet.  Careful not to crumble the cookies when you do this step.

5.  Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, rotating pans and switching from top to bottom halfway through. The cookies will not take on much color.  Remove from cookie sheets once you pull them from the oven, and allow to cool completely on racks. Dust with powdered sugar if you like. The cookies seem to get better with a day of rest, stored in an airtight container.

Honey Walnut Tartlets and Radio CPR Sale

I was starting to sound like the biggest, all-time sad bastard a couple of weeks ago. I had contemplated moving back to California, threatened graduate school, and tried to slam the door on DC as I holed up in my house with various failed sewing and photography projects and a couple of completely unhealthy itunes playlists. Well lo’ and behold! All I had to do was look up and suddenly there were (as I had cautiously suspected) quite a few great people doing great things in this city.

I was lucky enough to be included as part of the second annual Radio CPR used books and records sale two weekends ago, along with local artists and craftsters the Bookish Lady, Kristina Bilonik, Kikapika Design, and practically wall-to-wall records and books. My menu was short and sweet: vanilla-caramel-dipped apples, chocolate rads, ginger lemonade, and these honey walnut tartlets that are even easier to make than they are to eat. Radio CPR met some pretty good success with the sale, and I met a couple of folks who sowed some excellent seeds of optimism in my formerly sad-bastard head.

The Tanglewood table! I could include a picture of me actually selling things, but I had gratuitous cleavage in all photos, so we shall leave the abundance of sweet things to stand in for my abundance of chest.

Honey Walnut Tartlets
Adapted from SmittenKitchen via Bon Appétit

If you don't want to make six tartlets, the following proportions will also work just perfectly for one normal 9-inch tart.

1 recipe tart shell, unbaked (I actually don't love this recipe, but it's very, very easy.)
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup golden brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup honey (try to pick a mild one—apple or orange blossom are perfect.)
2 teaspoons grated orange peel
1/2 teaspoon whole aniseed (I skip this and use 1/2 tsp. vanilla instead.)
1 3/4 cups walnuts, toasted, chopped (but not too finely!)
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 370 degrees F. Cut pastry dough into six pieces, and roll out each one to a 6-inch circle. Transfer to a lightly-buttered 4 1/2-inch-diameter tartlet pan with removable bottom. Press crust onto bottom and up sides of pan; trim overhang to 1/2 inch. Fold overhang in and press, forming double-thick sides. Repeat with remaining dough disks and 5 more pans and prick them all over with a fork.

2. Freeze crusts for 30 minutes. Lightly butter six pieces of foil and press them tightly against frozen tart shells. Bake crusts for 10 minutes before taking them out, carefully removing the foil, pressing down any pastry that has bubbled up gently with the back of a spoon and baking them for an additional 7 minutes, or until lightly golden at the edges. Take them out of the oven and let them cool. Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees F.

3. Meanwhile, make the filling. Stir cream and next 5 ingredients in heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves; try not to let liquid splash the sides of the pot. Increase heat; boil until mixture bubbles thickly and color darkens slightly, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in walnuts then salt.

4. Place crusts on baking sheet lined with foil. Divide filling among crusts. Bake tartlets until filling bubbles thickly and crusts are golden, about 25 minutes total. (I actually had a problem with my walnuts and crusts getting close to burning last time I baked this, so I saved my foil pieces this time around, and covered the tops of the tartlets with about 10 minutes left to bake.) Cool tartlets, and remove pan sides while tartlets are still warm.