Maple Pecan Toffee Tart. Chuckling While Listening To Insomniac Folklore Cover U2.

Q: Why did Bono fall off the stage?

A: He was too close to The Edge.

Do you have a little bit of time?

I could write you a small novel about how much I love this Maple Pecan Toffee Tart.

I know, that thought is almost as scary as some of the jokes I share. :)

So, to be brief, I was completely floored at how good this tart is. Maple, Pecans and Toffee in the title of any recipe can pretty much assure that it will be delicious. But here these ingredients come together into a totally addictive, chewy caramelized filling in a crisp, slightly sweet crust.

A little note. I thought that the dough was nearly impossible to work with. I used up all of my egg and it still never rolled out into anything that I could neatly lift and place in the tart tin. I gave up and patted it in with the heel of my hand. Worked like a charm.

Little note #2. I thought the filling looked a bit much for the size of the pan. I filled it to the top anyway and placed the tart tin on a lined baking sheet. THANK G!!! The filling had bubbled over into a sticky mass that covered the baking sheet….but not the bottom of my oven! This little occurrence had an amazing result though. It coated the bottom of the tart and when cool left a crisp, delectable shell. I hope when I make it again that the same exact thing happens.

The end.

Maple Pecan Toffee Tart

Ingredients for the sweet shortcrust pastry:

200g/1 cup sifted flour
100g/4 oz chilled butter, cubed
1 Tbs confectioners’ sugar, sifted
½ to 1 egg, beaten

Ingredients for the filling:

275g/10 oz shelled pecans, 2/3 coarsely chopped and the rest left whole
250ml/9 oz maple syrup
75g/1/3 cup light brown sugar
150g butter
75ml double (heavy) cream

Directions:

1. For the sweet short crust pastry, place the flour, sugar and butter in a food processor and process until the texture of breadcrumbs. Add the egg a little at the time until mixture is just moist enough to come together. Flatten dough, wrap in cling film and chill the dough for 30 minutes.

2. Roll out the dough in between 2 sheets of cling film to a round large enough to fit a 23cm/9 inch loose bottom tart tin. Carefully peel off one layer of the cling film and flip pastry over and gently lower into the tin. Press the dough into the tin with the cling film still attached. Remove the cling film and use a fork to prick the pastry base. Chill for another 30 minutes.

3. Preheat oven to 180℃/350℉.

4. Line pastry shell with parchment, waxed paper or foil and fill with dry beans or baking weights. Bake for 10-15 minutes until the base appears dry.

5. Arrange pecans on a baking sheet and place in oven to toast for 8 minutes.

6. Place the remaining filling ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Continue to boil about 5 minutes. Stir in pecans and pour the mixture into the pre-baked tart shell.

7. Bake tart in the oven for about 30-35 minutes, until browned and bubbly. (I highly recommend placing the tart tin on a rimmed baking sheet in case the filling spills over the top of the tin while baking.)

8. Cool tart and chill, before serving with a drizzle of maple syrup.

Serves 8

Recipe from Entertaining At Home by Rachel Allen

Being that Rachel Allen is from Ireland, how about a nod to one of that country’s most famous bands?