Maple-Walnut Tart

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite......and then a miracle occurred. Everything got to the table on time and I didn't cuss even once in the process. I have pictures and recipes that I'll be sharing with you next week because this was a meal that would work as well for Christmas as it did for Thanksgiving. Today's tart is a riff on pecan pie that I found in Fine Cooking magazine. It is a rich and delicious creation and it was the first of the desserts to disappear from the table. The recipe seems long, but the tart is not actually difficult to make. While the tart crust described in the recipe is lovely, a commercial pie shell would make short work of this dessert without harming the finished tart. If you like maple flavored desserts, do give this one a try. It is delicious. Quite rich, but delicious nonetheless. Here's how it is made.

Maple-Walnut Tart...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Fine Cooking magazine

Ingredients:
Pie Crust
1-3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour + more for rolling
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into 24 small pieces and frozen
1 large egg yolk
1/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
3 to 4 tablespoons ice water
Cooking spray
Filling
2 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon pure maple extract
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup pure maple syrup
3/4 cup granulated sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups chopped walnuts, toasted

Directions:
1) To make pie crust: Pulse flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor once or twice to combine. Add butter and pulse until mixture is pebbly, with some pea-size bits of butter.
    Whisk egg yolks, lemon juice and 3 tablespoons of ice water together in a small bowl. Pour mixture through feed tube of food processor, pulsing to combine. Dough mixture should be moist but should not come together into a ball. If a small handful of dough pressed together does not adhere, add remaining 1 tablespoon ice water and pulse to combine.
    Turn dough mixture onto a piece of plastic wrap. Gather plastic around dough and press dough into a disk. Wrap tightly in additional plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.
2) To roll crust: Let dough stand at room temperature for about 15 minutes to become pliable before rolling. Lightly coat a rolling pin with flour and roll  dough on a lightly floured surface into a 15-inch circle. Lightly coat a round 9-1/2 x 1-inch fluted metal tart pan with a removable bottom with cooking spray. Roll dough around rolling pin and carefully unroll over tart pan. Gently press it into bottom and up  sides of  pan without stretching. Trim excess, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Fold overhang inside  tart and press against sides to make a double wall about 1/4 inch higher than  tart pan (this will offset any shrinkage during baking). Wrap tart shell in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours.
    Position a rack in lower third of oven and heat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line tart shell with parchment and add enough beans or pie weights to fill shell. Bake on a heavy-duty rimmed baking sheet until  edges are firm and starting to brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Carefully lift parchment and weights from tart shell. Continue to bake until bottom of the shell is pale golden, 5 to 7 minutes more. Let cool on  baking sheet on a rack and reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
3) To make filling: In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, yolks, maple and vanilla extracts, and salt. Set aside.
     In a 2-quart saucepan, combine maple syrup and sugar and cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved and mixture just starts to boil, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and add butter, stirring until melted. Remove from heat and let cool for 1 minute.
    Slowly whisk warm syrup into egg mixture, drizzling it in about 1/4 cup at a time and whisking continuously to prevent hot syrup from cooking eggs.
4) To fill and bake tart: Fill tart shell with chopped walnuts. Carefully ladle filling over walnuts to within 1/4 inch of  rim (do not overfill; there may be a little filling left over). Bake tart until it is just set in the center, 30 to 40 minutes (if crust is golden-brown before filling is set, cover edges loosely with foil). Cool completely on the baking sheet on a rack.
    Carefully remove tart rim. Slide a long, flat spatula between  pastry and the pan bottom and transfer tart to a serving platter. Yield: 8 to 10 servings.

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