Maple Pecan Tart

One of our favorite desserts is Maple Pecan Tart, and we couldn't imagine omitting this classic from our Thanksgiving repertoire. The following recipe is for a standard 10 inch tart pan. This is a bake-ahead dessert, as it needs to cool completely and be refrigerated before serving.

Tart Dough:

1 large egg yolk
2 tbsp ice water, more if needed
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into tiny cubes

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk, ice water and vanilla extract.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar and salt.

3. Using a pastry blender, cut the cold, unsalted butter into the dry mixture until coarse crumbs form.
Add the egg mixture and knead the dough until it pulls together. Add more ice water if the dough is too dry.

4. Roll out the dough unto tart pan and blind bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes.

There are many nuances to making the perfect tart dough or pie pastry, but I do not want to address them all in this post. I think I need to write an entire post of the tips and tricks that I learned from trial and error. This basic tart dough recipe comes from my Williams and Sonoma baking book - one of my favorite baking resources. 

Pecan Filling:

6 tbsp butter

2/3 cup maple syrup

3 cups of pecans

0-8 tablespoons of brown sugar, depending on preference

1/3 cup heavy cream

The directions for the filling are super-easy, and if it wasn't for the tart dough, this would be the simplest and quickest dessert on the planet.

1. Add the butter, maple syrup, and sugar (if using) to a large heavy-bottomed skillet. The reason I give such a wide range for the sugar is because it really depends on preference. The recipe that I used for inspiration asked for 1/2 cup or 8 tablespoons of sugar, but I found that it's way too much. It came out disgustingly sweet, and we decided that for our taste, it doesn't need any sugar at all, since the maple syrup is sweet enough. But I suppose 1-2 tablespoons is a pretty good amount too. 

2. Once the sugar and butter have melted and the mixture begins to boil, turn off the heat and stir in the heavy cream.

3. Stir in the pecans.

4. Pour into tart filling and bake at 350 for 30 minutes, or until the filling begins to bubble. 

5. Let your tart cool down, then cover it with plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge to cool. While you technically can eat this hot, we really suggest you eat it cold.  This way, the maple syrup glues the pecans together and it doesn't just fall apart into individual pecans and dough on your plate.

-Oksana and Yana