Provencal Dessert Pine Nut Tart (Tarte aux Pignons)
Tarte aux pignons or a pine nut tart is the Provencal version of pecan pie or walnut tart. The sweet base for the tart is a shortcrust pastry shell (pâte sablée) this dessert is a specialty from the village of Bormes-les-Mimosas.
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Pine Nut Tart (Tarte aux Pignons)
This recipe includes the pie crust, which is easy to make. However, if you would rather skip that step you can buy a prepared pie crust. If you like shortbread cookies, you will like this crust, and the sweet filling speaks for itself.
Ingredients
For the pastry shell:
- 1 ¼ cup All Purpose Flour
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 1 stick (8 tbsp) chilled butter cubed
- ¼ cup ice water
For the filling:
- 2 tbsp Raisins
- 4 tbsp rum divided
- ½ cup Apricot or Peach Jam
- 6 tbsp butter creamed
- 5 tbsp Sugar
- 1 cup ground almonds
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup pine nuts roughly chopped
Instructions
To make the pie shell:
- In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, salt and sugar. Add the butter and pulse for 15 seconds, until the dough resembles coarse meal.
- Slowly add the water, continuing to pulse for another 15 seconds, until clumps start to form. Do not overprocess. The dough should not be a solid ball.
- Place the dough on a working surface and gently form into a ball. Divide in two and flatten each half to a ½ disk.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Take dough out of the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature until it starts to soften and can be rolled out. The dough should not be too soft as it will stick.
- Roll out dough to a ¼-inch thickness between two sheets of plastic wrap or wax paper.
- Wrap the disks in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 40 minute. At this point, the dough can be frozen for up to a month.
- Transfer the dough to a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom and press into the corners of the tart pan. Cut off any excess dough.
To make the filling:
- In a cup, soak the raisins in 2 tablespoons rum for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- In a small bowl, combine the jam and the remaining 2 tablespoons rum.
- In a medium bowl, combine the butter and sugar and beat with an electric mixer on low speed until creamy.
- Add the eggs and continue beating on medium speed until the eggs are incorporated.
- Add the ground almonds and beat for an additional minute until the mixture is uniform.
- Add the jam and the raisins soaked in rum and stir well.
- Pour the filling into the prepared tart shell and distribute evenly.
- Distribute the pine nuts evenly on the tart and bake for 35 minutes, until the crust and top are golden brown.
- Serve at room temperature.
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