Ingredients
TART SHELLS
3 cup pastry flour
1 cup unsalted butter, very cold, cut into 1/2-
3 tbsp sugar
1 dash salt
2 egg yolks
1 tbsp whipping cream (or dbl amt.) very, cold
CARAMEL SAUCE
1/2 cup sugar, pref. vanilla sugar
2/3 cup whipping cream, room temperature
2 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
FILLING
1 1/2 cup light corn syrup
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
4 eggs
2 egg yolks
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1 1/2 cup pecan halves (or more)
Directions
To make tart shells place flour, cold butter, 3 tablespoons sugar and
salt in food processor. Process, using quick on and off motion, until
mixture resembles coarse meal. Combine 2 egg yolks and 1 tablespoon
cream in small bowl. With motor running, add egg mixture to flour
mixture. Process just until dough begins to form. Add enough
remaining cream to form dough that holds together. Scrape dough onto
piece of foil. Wrap airtight and refrigerate until well chilled, at
least 1 hour. Divide dough into 6 or 8 equal portions, depending on
whether pan size is 3 or 4 inches. Roll each portion out onto lightly
floured pastry cloth. Carefully transfer pastry to tart pans. Press
against bottoms and sides of pans, then trim excess around rims. If
pastry tears, patch with small bits of pastry trimmings. Reserve any
remaining pastry, wrapped airtight, for another use. Refrigerate
pastry-lined tart pans until ready to use.
To make sauce, heat 1/2 cup sugar in small, heavy skillet or saucepan
over medium heat until melted and medium amber in color. Carefully
pour in 2/3 cup cream all at once, being careful to avoid splatters.
Stir in 2 tablespoons butter. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium
heat until caramel dissolves and sauce is smooth. Remove from heat.
Store at room temperature if not using immediately, as sauce will
harden if refrigerated.
To make filling, combine corn syrup, 3/4 cup each sugar and brown
sugar, 4 eggs and 2 egg yolks in medium bowl. Stir until blended.
Heat 3 tablespoons butter in small skillet over medium heat until
butter is foamy and light brown in color. Remove from heat and whisk
into corn syrup mixture.
To assemble tarts, set pastry-lined tart pans on large baking sheet.
Divide pecans among tart pans and pour filling over them or pour in
filling and arrange pecans on top in symmetrical pattern. Bake at
375F 35 to 40 minutes. Remove to wire rack to cool. Serve tarts at
room temperature topped with caramel sauce. Makes 6 to 8 tarts
Servings: 6 servings
Pecan Tarts Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Dessert; Nut; Pecan
The History of Recipes
Academics have traced the existance of recipes way back into the distant past, in truth as far back into history as the Egyptians, and possibly even further than that. Having said that, generally, these old cook books were just very basic pictorial instructions for preparing food.
Interestingly, the most ancient recipe in existence, according to academics are some clay tablets in the Sumerian language which recount the making of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made people feel `exhilarated, wonderful and blissful`. During Roman times around 25BC a man called Apicius assembled a collection of scripts which described recipes enjoyed by the Romans. In his scrolls, he recounts how the meals were split into appetizers, entrees and desserts, a very modern way of dining. He also describes how the Roman chefs used many herbs, including a few that will be familiar to modern chefs like thyme, rue and asafoetida. As our culinary historical trip moves on a few more years there are a couple of interesting cookery books from the 14th Century - a cookery book titled `Forme of Cury`, and another, similary called `Curye on Inglish`. Perhaps surprisingly, these two books are nothing to do with the indian curry that we all know today, but instead accounts of the types of food prepared for the rich and powerful of that time. In the fifteenth century, the Crusaders brought back many new foods, spices and herbs from Arab cooking, such as coriander, basil and rosemary. These new foods and spices created an outbreak in books on cooking, most of which are now in private cookery archives. During the succeeding few hundred years, the powerful families of the West tried to serve up the best banquets, and as a consequence, cooks and their recipes were much in demand. Nevertheless, it was during the 1800s that fine cooking and recipe books rose to prominence. The Famous Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally famous Fannie Merritt Farmer in the US, dedicated their lives to collating, verifying, and publishing recipes to allow everyone to enjoy them. By the arrival of the 20th century, recipe books are increasing in popularity due to more people being able to read, people having more free time and having more disposable income. Like it or not, the introduction of television brought us celebrity chefs and the spin-off recipe books. And that neatly brings us to the present day and the internet revolution, allowing us all to search through thousands of recipes like the ones you can find on the site you are now reading. |
We hope you enjoy this Pecan Tarts recipe.
