Pecan Tart

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I love a taste of pecan pie. One bite. The flavor is great, but the sugary sweetness can be overwhelming. This recipe transforms the traditional pie into a buttery tart that requires less sugar than the original, but preserves the crisp top layer of nuts. Gooey, sticky and just the right amount of sweet, this will become the quintessential dessert on my holiday table.

Pecan Tart

Crust

  • 1-1/2 cups Flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 7 tablespoons chilled, unsalted butter
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 4 tablespoons ice water

Filling

  • 1 cup pecan halves
  • 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup dark corn syrup
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tablespoon butter, melted and cooled
  • 1 tablespoon dark rum
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Crust

Mix flour and salt together in mixing bowl.

Cut butter into 1/2-inch cubes. Press butter chunks between fingertips and drop into center of bowl. Toss to coat.

With fingertips, gradually work flour and butter together until mixture resembles coarse meal. Whisk egg yolk and 3 tablespoons of water together in small bowl to blend. Drizzle egg yolk mixture over flour mixture, tossing with fork.

Stir dough until mixture begins to come together; press together with hands to form a rough dough. Turn out onto cool counter and press together into mound.

Dough will not come together completely. (Sprinkle with enough remaining water to reach this consistency if dough is very crumbly at this point.)

With heel of hand, smear a small amount of dough away from you on counter. Scrape up and continue with remaining dough, mounding smeared tough together on counter. Press mound into disk; wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.

For filling

Heat oven to 425°F. Roll out crust to 11-inch circle; line a 9-inch tart pan with crust. Trim edges and line with foil or parchment. Partially bake crust by weighing with dried beans or pie weights; bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until set. Remove foil and weights; bake and additional 3 to 4 minutes or until crust appears dry. Remove and let cool on wire rack while preparing filling; sprinkle with pecan halves. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F.

Prepare filling by combining brown sugar, flour and salt in medium mixing bowl. Whisk in corn syrup, eggs, butter, rum and vanilla until blended. When oven has cooled to 325°F, place crust lined tart pan on shallow 10 x 15-inch baking pan. Pour filling into tart pan; bake for 30 to 25 minutes or until just set. Remove and let cool.

Adapted from: AndrewZimmern