Caramel and pecan pie
After enjoying the beloved strawberry tart and the delicious french Apple tart if you’ve gathered some nuts, it’s the perfect opportunity to make this delightful nut tart. I usually make it with either walnuts or pecans, but you can also use a mix of dried fruits like hazelnuts, cashews, and almonds.
This pecan tart is quite straightforward. I used Pierre Hermé’s sweet pastry dough for it, but you can use any sweet shortcrust pastry of your preference.
I previously provided a detailed article to help you master sweet pastry, along with all the tips and techniques to achieve a perfect tart crust. Once you’ve mastered this pastry, you’ll feel confident in lining a tart ring.
I won’t go over all the techniques of lining a tart ring here, as I’ve already provided a very comprehensive and detailed article with a video. You’ll have the choice between preparing the sweet pastry dough by the sanding method or by the creaming method. Both methods yield excellent results.
You can make the tart crust well in advance and freeze it. Just take it out when needed and fill it.
This pecan tart is very crunchy. The tart crust is sandy and perfectly crispy, complemented by the crunchiness of the pecans.
The creamy caramel adds a lot of indulgence to the whole tart, which will please all dessert lovers.
Don’t worry if it’s your first time making caramel. You can mix it without any issues. You’ll succeed every time.
Be careful of splatters when adding the cream to cook the caramel. Use a tall saucepan and add the cream off the heat, gradually stirring constantly.
Crunchy shortbread walnut and caramel tart
Table of Contents
The recipe on video
Difficulty: medium
Ingredient:
NB: Find the quantity of ingredients in the recipe card at the end of the article, which you can print. Below are the instructions, also available with visual images.
For a 20 or 22 cm tart (7.9 or 8.7 in) :
For sweet pastry :
- 125 g all-purpose flour (4.4 oz)
- 75 g very soft butter (2.6 oz)
- 48 g icing sugar (1.7 oz)
- 18 g almond powder (0.6 oz)
- 25 g eggs (0.9 oz)
- 0.5 g salt (0.02 oz) (weigh 1 g and divide by 2)
- 1/2 vanilla bean or vanilla powder
For the egg wash :
- 1/2 egg yolk (10 g) (0.4 oz)
- 1 teaspoon heavy cream (2.5 g) (0.1 oz)
For the filling :
- 250 g pecan nuts (8.8 oz)
- 250 g sugar (8.8 oz)
- 50 g glucose (which you can replace with sugar) (1.8 oz)
- 175 ml heavy cream 32% fat (5.9 fl oz)
How to prepare pecan pie
For the sweet pastry
1. Cream the butter and sifted icing sugar.
2. Add the salt, seeds from half a vanilla pod, and almond powder. Mix and scrape the bottom of the bowl.
3. Add the egg, mix, then add the sifted flour. Mix briefly without kneading or forming a ball.
4. Turn the dough onto the work surface and use the palm of your hand to “fraser” it, making 2/3 back-and-forth motions to combine everything. Not overworking.
5. Gather the dough into a ball and divide it into two. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. It’s best to make it the day before for the next day.
6. The next day or after 2 hours of refrigeration, roll out the dough to 2 or 3 mm thickness.
7. Line a 22 cm tart ring using the lining and baking technique in pastry sweet’s article. Freeze for 1 hour before baking.
8. Let the tart crust cool before preparing the filling.
The filling
1. Roast the nuts for 10 minutes in the preheated oven at 150°C (302°F)
2. Gently heat the glucose in a saucepan over medium heat, then sprinkle the sugar over it. Let it caramelize, stirring occasionally. The sugar tends to clump together, but by stirring and pressing it against the saucepan, it will gradually liquefy while coloring. The caramel should not be very dark in color.
3. Meanwhile, while the sugar caramelizes, heat the liquid cream in a saucepan.
4. Once the sugar has taken on a beautiful golden color, remove the saucepan from the heat and temper it with the warm cream. Pour the cream in 3 times, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Be careful of splatters.
Scrape the bottom of the saucepan well to melt all the caramel crystals. (Refer to the video above for a clear demonstration of the method.)
Preparing the caramel for the pecan pie.
5. Pour into a bowl and add the pecans on top. Mix to coat them with caramel.
You can strain the caramel through a sieve if there are any sugar crystals remaining.
6. Pour into the pie crust and arrange the pecans on top in a harmonious manner. Drizzle with the remaining caramel at the bottom of the bowl.
7. Allow to set in the refrigerator for 1 hour before serving and enjoying.
You can also see :
Pecan pie recipe with salted caramel
INGREDIENTS
- For a 20 or 22 cm tart ( 7.9 or 8.7 in )
For sweet pastry :
- 125 g all-purpose flour (4.4 oz)
- 75 g very soft butter (2.6 oz)
- 48 g icing sugar (1.7 oz)
- 18 g almond powder (0.6 oz)
- 25 g eggs (0.9 oz)
- 0.5 g salt (0.02 oz) (weigh 1 g and divide by 2)
- 1/2 vanilla bean or vanilla powder
For the egg wash :
- 1/2 egg yolk 10 g (0.4 oz)
- 1 teaspoon heavy cream 2.5 g (0.1 oz)
For the filling :
- 250 g pecan nuts (8.8 oz)
- 250 g sugar (8.8 oz)
- 50 g glucose which you can replace with sugar (1.8 oz)
- 175 ml heavy cream 32% fat (5.9 fl oz)
PREPARATION
For the sweet pastry
- Cream the butter and sifted icing sugar.
- Add the salt, seeds from half a vanilla pod, and almond powder. Mix and scrape the bottom of the bowl.
- Add the egg, mix, then add the sifted flour. Mix briefly without kneading or forming a ball.
- Turn the dough onto the work surface and use the palm of your hand to "fraser" it, making 2/3 back-and-forth motions to combine everything. Not overworking.
- Gather the dough into a ball and divide it into two. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. It's best to make it the day before for the next day.
- The next day or after 2 hours of refrigeration, roll out the dough to 2 or 3 mm thickness.
- Line a 22 cm tart ring using the lining and baking technique in this article : Sweet pastry. Freeze for 1 hour before baking in the preheated oven at 165°C (329°F).
- Let the tart crust cool before preparing the filling.
The filling
- Roast the nuts for 10 minutes in the preheated oven at 150°C (302°F)
- Gently heat the glucose in a saucepan over medium heat, then sprinkle the sugar over it. Let it caramelize, stirring occasionally. The sugar tends to clump together, but by stirring and pressing it against the saucepan, it will gradually liquefy while coloring. The caramel should not be very dark in color.
- Meanwhile, while the sugar caramelizes, heat the liquid cream in a saucepan.
- Once the sugar has taken on a beautiful golden color, remove the saucepan from the heat and temper it with the warm cream. Pour the cream in 3 times, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Be careful of splatters.
- Scrape the bottom of the saucepan well to melt all the caramel crystals. (Refer to the video above for a clear demonstration of the method.)
- Pour into a bowl and add the pecans on top. Mix to coat them with caramel.
- You can strain the caramel through a sieve if there are any sugar crystals remaining.
- Pour into the pie crust and arrange the pecans on top in a harmonious manner. Drizzle with the remaining caramel at the bottom of the bowl.
- Allow to set in the refrigerator for 1 hour before serving and enjoying.
caramel walnut tart