A day late as power went out and then our internet service was being repaired., but here is my contribution to Hagging Out! Before I really dive in, a quick thank you to @graveyarddirtâ for organizing the event and pulling everything together! <3
So a bit of history: my grandmother could not cook. Not for anything. She used to throw plain hamburger and frozen tater tots in a casserole dish, throw it in the oven at 350F and call it a day. She made a good turkey and fantastic chocolate mousse, but beyond that? It was beyond her. A weekly family special was shit on a shingle*, I shit you not.
As a result, all of her children learned how to cook as a method of self-preservation. Theyâre all honestly super fucking good in the kitchen, but the only one who has a true love of being in the kitchen was my mother. She loved cooking and food and tradition so much she started several herself because she couldnât resist the sense of community it might bring us.
As a kid, so many of them were beyond my ability to enjoy. The flavors were complex or the texture wasnât simple enough, but as I grew so did my appreciation of the work I saw go into these things. And with that appreciation came a finer palate (thank fuck).
So below is my first ever attempt at this fall favorite in the Hex Household. (I was never once allowed to make this with her â I was always shooed out of the kitchen since the sugar can get so hot as to leave really bad burns). Since she recently passed, I thought I would give a recipe that we dearly loved but never made together a shot. I think these turned out lovely.
You can make two varieties of this treat. The first is to make one large 9â tart and the second is to use tartlet tins to make minis. I personally prefer the mini because they are 1) super cute and 2) they really are a satisfying serving. The instructions are basically the same, the difference is in cook times.
First you have to make the tart shell. Youâll want to add 1/3 cold cup butter & ÂŒ cup sugar and beat until itâs fluffy. Some people will tell you this is best done with a wooden spoon and those people are masochists. Get out the damn mixer. Once itâs fluffy, add an egg yolk and beat well. Once everything is that same eggy color you know itâs beaten well enough to gradually add 1 cup of unsifted flour. This should be very crumbly â youâll likely think for a moment that you did it wrong.
Here is where you choose to either make one large tart or a bunch of tartlets. For either size you want the tart tins with the removable bottoms. If the tartlet tins are vintage, the bottoms may not be removable and then you need to spray them the tiniest bit to make sure they donât get stuck.
For one large tart simply roll it into the best ball you can (you may need to chill it for a bit if it took you awhile to get it all mixed properly), set it in the middle of the tin and start to flatten it, making sure to pinch the edges so the shell comes up along the sides. Bake at 375F for about 12 minutes or until it starts to ever so faintly brown. For tartlets itâs the same process, but divide the shell into smaller parts. Vintage tartlet tins can be pretty small and I know I have an aunt whose tins are so tiny she can get about 16. I ended up with 8 with my modern set because theyâre a fair amount bigger. (Note: only 6 made it to the photo!) With the small ones she bakes them at 375F for 8 minutes, I ended up doing 10.
While those are in the oven, gather your other ingredients. If you need to chop your walnuts, do that now. Once the tins are set aside to cool you can start making the rest. The recipe says to cool completely, but I donât think anyone in my family has actually done that. The duration of time it takes to make the filling is adequate so long as theyâre not cooling on the stove top.
In a sauce pan, add 2/3 cup light brown sugar, ÂŒ cup butter, ÂŒ cup dark corn syrup, and 2 tablespoons of heavy cream. Stir constantly, bring to a boil and let boil for a minute. Quickly toss the walnuts in the bottom of the shell or shells (you can do this right when theyâre out of the oven, but youâll likely end up with them piercing the bottom of the shell and hitting the tin, making a bit of a mess for yourself later. It wonât hurt the flavor though). Once done, pour the hot syrup over top of the walnuts filling the shells. For large single tart, bake at 375F for 10 minutes. For tartlets bake at 375F for 6-10 minutes depending on size of tin. Either way you want the filling the be bubbly.
Set aside to cool and allow to cool (completely this time) before removing the tarts from the tin by pushing up at the removable bottom. Optional: beat about a œ cup of cream until it is stiff and refrigerate until the tarts are cool enough to serve. The original 2 tablespoons can come from this œ cup and you can also add a bit of vanilla flavoring if you like. I think methods of making the whip cream that use even more sugar would be too sweet for how sweet these tarts already are.
And now for the pictures!
*Skip all the other recipes online for shit on a shingle if you want the true experience of eating shit on a shingle. This one on Urban Dictionary is even a little more complicated that what grandma used to make because she found some way to basically make it a one-step process and serve it on the leftover crusts of bread.