Serves: 10-12
Back in the mists of time it was nigh on impossible to find macadamia nuts in the UK-and if you did you’d need a bank loan to buy them. It might be argued that since then not every change has been for the better but the availability of produce is, at least for the keen cook, a godsend. Macadamias are little nuggets of creamy butteriness-even people who aren’t keen on other nuts will tuck into macadamias. The vinegar in the pastry ingredients isn’t an error: acid impedes the development of gluten so you end up with a shorter (crumblier) pastry.
Ingredients
- For the pastry
- 250g plain flour
- 2 tablespoons caster sugar
- 75g cold unsalted butter
- 55g Trex or other vegetable shortening
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- For the filling
- 320g macadamia nuts
- 140g light muscovado sugar
- 230ml maple syrup
- 125ml double cream
- 3 medium eggs
- 30g salted butter, melted
- 3 tablespoons bourbon
- 1 tablespoon plain flour
- For the bourbon cream
- 300ml double cream
- 2 tablespoons bourbon
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
Method
- Put the flour, caster sugar, butter and Trex in the bowl of a food processor and blend to a fine crumb. Mix the vinegar with 2 tablespoon cold water and add to the bowl. Blend until the pastry is just coming together. Tip out onto a floured work surface and knead three or four times to form a smooth ball. Press out slightly and wrap in cling film. Chill for at least one hour.
- Bring to room temperature-about 40 minutes- before rolling out to a rectangle, large enough to line a 30 x 20cm loose-bottomed tart tin. Prick the base with the prongs of a fork and chill for 30 minutes.
- Heat the oven to 170˚c, fan oven 150˚c, mark 3. Bake blind for 40 minutes until the sides are starting to colour. Remove the paper and baking beans and continue to cook for about 15 minutes until the base is firm and golden brown.
- Turn the oven up to 200˚c, fan oven 180˚c, mark 6. For the filling, put the nuts in a single layer in a roasting tin and cook for 8-10 minutes until golden brown. Cool slightly then roughly chop. Spread the nuts over the pastry base.
- Mix together the remaining ingredients and pour over the nuts. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes until the centre feels firm. Leave for 30-40 minutes before serving. For the bourbon cream, whip the cream, bourbon and maple syrup together until the cream is just holding its shape.