Macadamia Walnut Tart

Since I was a little girl I've always loved to cut out recipes from magazines, collect them from friends and wheedle them out of family. I have scrapbooks and notebooks full of the things I dreamed of making or thought would be glamorous dinner party options. About 5 years ago I was given a big, fat, blank hardcover notebook and I still love cutting and pasting recipes in there, in fact it's almost full and I'd say I've only made about ten of the goodies I've selected.

So I've given myself a challenge - no more purchasing cookbooks for myself (gifts don't count, and are encouraged ;) until I've made a decent dent in trying out all these things I've wanted for years. So here we go!

This one is a handwritten recipe listed as "Mardi's Pecan Pie Slice - From Kate" I used to be assistant to two lovely girls (Mardi & Kate!) in catering a women's event, and they are both wonderful cooks. Mardi used to make this often and it was always a hit.

I've altered it a little based on what was in my pantry. I didn't have any pecans but I did have macadamias and a small amount of walnuts. The waxiness of both really works well together here.

Base:
1.5 cups plain flour
0.5 cups icing sugar
150g butter

Line a tin with baking paper. Rub butter into dry ingredients until well combined and press into the tin. Blind bake for 5mins at 180C then bake normally for 10mins until light brown and crisp. Cool completely (or just a bit works!) in tin.

Filling:
2T Golden Syrup
2T Pouring Cream
1/3 Cup brown sugar
1/2t Vanilla
75g melted butter
2 beaten eggs
1T plain flour

Whisk until smooth then add 2 cups chopped nuts. Pour onto base and bake for 25mins or until golden.
Cool in the tin before cutting into slices.

This is lovely. It is the real essence of pecan pie without a pie tin or pastry. Easy to transport and serve and delicious. Good for morning tea or with a blob of cream as dessert. Yum!

Thanks Mardi and Kate!