Brown Butter Tarts with Maple and Nutmeg

Yield:  12 tarts

Ingredients

For the pastry:

  • 3 cups of flour
  • 1 cup of sugar
  • 1 freshly grated whole nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon of salt
  • 1 cup of frozen butter, grated
  • ½ cup of ice water

For the filling:           

  • ½ cup of butter
  • ½ cup of maple syrup
  • ½ cup of brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tsp of vanilla
  • 2 Tbsp of flour

Method

Preheat your oven to 450°F and turn on your convection fan if you have one.

 

For the pastry:

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, nutmeg and salt. Grate in the frozen butter using the large holes of a standard box grater and toss quickly to thoroughly coat with flour. Sprinkle in the ice water then stir until a dough forms. Knead the dough just a few times as needed to bring everything together. Immediately roll it out thinly – about 1/4 inch thick – and cut out 12 circles. Fit them into a lightly oiled muffin tin. Freeze any leftover pastry for your next baking project.

 

For the filling:

Brown the butter by placing it in a saucepan over medium heat, heating and melting it until it begins to steam and foam. Keep a close eye on it as it foams. Swirl it gently, watching the color. When it turns golden brown and releases the aroma of toasting nuts, immediately remove it from the heat and whisk in the maple syrup, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla. Add the flour and stir to combine.

 

Pour the filling into the prepared shells. Bake until puffed and browned, about 10-12 minutes.