The Ultimate California Walnuts Holiday Tartlet

The ultimate in California Walnut holiday tartlets.. for the win!

What do you think of the title?  Too much?  The alternative title is “The Nutty Canadian” for our love of all things maple syrup and bacon.  This is my official submission to the California Walnuts Holiday Blogger Challenge.

I began this original recipe challenge thinking about cupcakes, since I often use walnuts when baking with bacon to simulate that great crunch people expect from the carnivore’s good stuff.  My Sweet Potato Bacon Walnut Cupcakes were great but not quite good enough.  From cupcakes, I turned to tarts and tartlets.  Through tenacity and a love of all food festive I created… {drumroll please} The Ultimate California Walnuts Holiday Tartlet.  This tartlet is made with a Sweet Walnut Pastry Crust and jam-packed with toasted California Walnuts, candied bacon, dried cranberries, fresh orange rind and chopped ginger.  Together the flavours meld into the perfect holiday treat and the layers of texture; with the flaky pastry, crispy bacon, chewy cranberries and crunchy California Walnuts makes it.. well, the ultimate.

Start to finish, this is a 2 hour endeavor in the kitchen.  I recommend turning up the Bing Crosby soundtrack, strapping on your Christmas-themed apron and enjoying your afternoon of holiday baking.  In this post, I have written out each element of the tartlets and will take you through the process step by step. So go ahead, add some more bourbon to that mug of eggnog 🙂

Let’s begin…

Step 1: Toast your nuts. Preheat your oven to 350°F.  Spill 2 cups of chopped California Walnuts on a flat baking sheet.  Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until golden brown.  Remove from oven, pour your toasted walnuts into a large bowl and set aside.

Step 2: Prepare your Sweet California Walnut Tartlet Crust.  This is a very reliable sweet pastry dough that I’ve added toasted California Walnuts to, boosting the nutty flavour of the final tartlet.

Sweet California Walnut Pastry Crust
Makes about 18 tartlets

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/4 tsp table salt
• 1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 Tbs cold water
• 3/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

Put the sugar and a 1/4 cup of your toasted California Walnuts in the food processor, blend on high for 20 seconds, making a superfine sugar and walnut mixture.  Top with  flour and salt and pulse 3 to 4 times to blend.  You may need to scrape sides and pulse once more.

Distribute the cubes of butter in the bowl and pulse 7 to 8 times. Process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, 8 to 10 seconds.  In a small bowl, beat the egg, egg yolk, water, and vanilla with a fork. Pour the egg mixture over the flour mixture and pulse 5 to 6 times.  Process until the mixture just begins to form a mass, 8 to 10 seconds.

Empty the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead 3 to 4 times until the dough is just smooth and malleable.  Using your palm, flatten into a 1-inch thick rectangle.  Using a pastry scraper or a sharp knife, score the dough at 1 1/2-inch intervals so you get 18 1 1/2-inch squares.  Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill for at least 20 minutes.

You can freeze the dough, still wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to one month. Let it fully thaw in the refrigerator before using in the tartlets.

Step 3: Candy your bacon  The bacon-lovers throughout Canada, California and beyond are going to love this.

Candied Bacon
Makes about 1 cup

• 1/2 pound (about 8 slices) low-sodium, natural bacon
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

1. Preheat oven to 400°F and cover baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2. Whisk maple syrup and mustard in a small bowl.  Chop bacon into 1-inch squares and toss in syrup mixture.
3. Layout syrup and bacon  mixture on cookie sheet and spread flat.  Bake for 10 minutes.
4. Open oven, toss with spoon and return to oven for another 5 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and spoon the delicious candied bacon directly into the bowl holding your toasted walnuts.  Toss together.

Now you're getting excited.

Step 4: Mold your tarts.  Spray 2 standard muffin tins with cooking spray.  Remove your chilled tart dough from the fridge.  Roll each pastry square between your palms and roll into balls.  Place each ball in the centre of each muffin mold.  Using your molding tool of choice (tart tamper, bottom of a glass, a spoon… I use the plastic top of my daughter’s bottle), press down on the centre of each dough ball.  You want to spread the pastry around the muffin mold, use your fingers to guide each tartlet crust the rest of the way.  Smooth around the top edge.  Don’t worry too much about each looking perfect, what matters is that there are no cracks for the filling to spill from.  Besides, imperfections only add to their homemade delicious charm.

Return molds to fridge to chill and set before baking, about 15 minutes.

Improvise your own tartlet tamper tool. I use the top to my daughter's milk bottle. Mom always said baking requires a little imagination.

Step 5: Bring it all together into one gloriously festive tartlet.

The Ultimate California Walnuts Holiday Tartlet
Courtesy of hotpinkapron.com
Makes about 18 tartlets

• 1 recipe Sweet California Walnut Tartlet Dough, unbaked (above)
• 1 cup candied bacon, chopped (above)
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup golden brown sugar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons grated orange peel (rind of 1 medium orange)
• 1 3/4 cups California Walnuts, chopped and toasted (above)
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 2 tsp fresh ginger, finely chopped
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1. Drop the temperature of your preheated oven to 375°F.
2. Add the chopped ginger, ground ginger, orange rind, dried cranberries and sea salt to the bowl of candied bacon and walnuts.  Mix well.
3. Scoop healthy portions of the candied, spiced walnut mix into each molded pastry cup.
4. Make the filling by stirring the heavy cream, sugars and maple syrup in heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium-high; do not stir and let boil until mixture bubbles thickly and color darkens slightly, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat.
5. Using a large spoon, distribute the hot filling over the walnut mixture, evenly amongst each tartlet.
6. Bake tartlets until filling bubbles thickly and crusts are golden, 18 to 20 minutes. Cool tartlets in pans on rack for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the muffin tin while tartlets are still warm and let them cool completely on a wire rack.

Load your sweet walnut dough cups with the walnut-bacon mixture and prepare your filling on the stovetop.

Since ancient times, walnuts have been a sign of fertility and a happy marriage, because the two halves of the shell are so closely united. I believe candied bacon in your tarts is the secret to that happy marriage.

Have a little California Walnut filling leftover? Congratulations! You are the proud owners of the world's greatest ice cream topper!

If you can contain your excitement, let your tartlets cool completely before diving in for a giant bite.  These holiday tartlets only improve with time, so go ahead and store them in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. However, since these very attractive mini-pies offer a little something for everyone, I’m certain how long you can store them for will be a non-issue.

Happy Holiday Baking Everyone! xo

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