Pecan Rum Tart From The Old Inn On The Green

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350-degrees Fahrenheit.

Step 2: Place the butter and granulated sugar in a medium bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks, creme fraiche (or sour cream), rum, and vanilla. Fold in the chopped pecans and set aside.

Step 3: In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold the egg whites gently into the nut mixture.

Step 4: Pour the batter into the pastry shell and bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes, or until the tart is puffed and set in the middle. Let cool.

Step 5: Place the apricot jam in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the jam is melted.

Step 6: Strain the melted jam through a fine-meshed sieve over a bowl and discard the solids. Let cool.

Step 7: Just before serving, spread the apricot glaze over the top of the tart, dust with confectioners' sugar and serve.

Step 8: NOTE: The tart may be made up to 8 hours in advance. It is best to glaze or dust with confectioners sugar until prior to serving.

Step 9: Directions for Blind Baking a Puff Pastry Shell:.

Step 10: Use 1 sheet of frozen puff pastry.

Step 11: Thaw the frozen puff pastry. (If your puff pastry comes folded, Please DO NOT try to unfold your puff pastry while it is frozen or the pastry will break along the folds). Instead, let it thaw overnight in the fridge or on the counter for about 30 minutes.

Step 12: Once it has thawed, dust your counter with a little flour and gently unfold the pastry. (Note: though the pastry is thawed, make sure that it is on the cooler side as keeping it cool lends to a flakier crust). If puff pastry cracks, just brush it with a little water and press it together with your fingers.

Step 13: For visual instructions; refer to this link (it is very helpful): http://www.caremepastry.com/docs/Blind%20Baking%20SC%20shell.pdf.

Step 14: Lightly grease your tart tin. Cut the pastry to allow for the depth of the tart pan. (e.g; if your tart pan is 10" and rim is 2 ", cut a 15" diameter circle, this will provide enough pastry to compensate for any shrinkage during baking). Cut a 16" circular piece of parchment paper and set aside (this will be used later).

Step 15: Gently ease the pastry into the tart ensuring you have an even amount of pastry all around. Work your way around the tart, gently crimping pastry in towards the edge.

Step 16: Push the pastry flat to the side of the shell, while doing so gently massage the pastry in a downward motion towards the base of the shell.

Step 17: Working around the tart crimp the extra pastry just above the rim (please do not cut, remember it is above the rim). The idea is to create a rustic crust to your finished tart so don’t worry if your crimping is not perfectly neat!

Step 18: Take the end of a rolling pin (if your rolling pin end is flat, if not, use the balls of your fingers) and starting from the center working out in a circular pattern use a tapping motion until you reach the outer edge of the base. (This little trick pushes the pastry out towards the edge of the shell helping to prevent pull back on the sides).

Step 19: Your pastry should be well molded to the sides and base of your tart.

Step 20: "Dock" poke with a fork inside the bottom a bit to prevent it from puffing too much.

Step 21: Line the pastry with parchment paper and fill to the top (see cook’s note) with baking weights (dried chickpeas, dry beans, or ceramic baking weights, avoid rice).

Step 22: Rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before baking.

Step 23: Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F for 15 to 20 minutes or until pastry is lightly golden around edges.

Step 24: Remove from oven and carefully remove weights and paper and return to oven for 5 more minutes to brown the base.

COOK'S NOTE

Step 25: A common error when blind baking is to not fill the baking weights to the very top of the tart. If you don’t there is nothing supporting the sides of the tart during baking which will cause them to fall away and collapse.