Recipe: Apricot Macadamia Nut Tart, Chocolate Macadamia-Nut Tart, Macadamia Nut-Coconut Tart, Mushroom-Macadamia Tart for Denise

Apricot Macadamia Nut Tart
Serving Size: 12

For Cocoa Pastry
1 1/2 c flour
2/3 cup butter -- softened
1/4 cup brown sugar -- packed
2 tbs cocoa
1 egg

For Tart
8 oz dried apricots
3 1/2 oz macadamia nuts -- coarsely chopped
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter -- melted
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs

For Chocolate-dipped Apricots
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 tsp shortening
12 dried apricots

Heat oven to 400 F. Mix all pastry ingredients until dough forms. Press firmly and evenly against bottom and side of ungreased 11-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Bake 10-12 minutes or until set. After baking pastry, heat oven to 375 . Reserve 12 apricots for Chocolate-dipped Apricots; coarsely chop remaining apricots. Sprinkle nuts and chopped apricots evenly over baked pastry. Beat sugar, butter, corn syrup, salt, and eggs until smooth. Pour over nuts and apricots. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until set. Line plate with waxed paper. Place chips and shortening in a small microwave safe bowl. Microwave uncovered on medium 2 to 3 minutes or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Dip half of each apricot into chocolate mixture; place on plate. Let stand until chocolate is dry. Place on tart.

Chocolate Macadamia-Nut Tart

1/2 recipe basic pie crust
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 tablespoon bourbon
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 1/2 cups unsalted whole macadamia nuts (10 1/2 ounces)

Heat oven to 400. On a lightly floured surface, roll p te sucr e into a 14-inch circle. Fit pastry into an 11-inch tart pan; trim dough evenly along edge. Use trimmings to patch any thin spots in shell. Refrigerate 30 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, and bourbon until combined. Whisk in flour and salt. Whisk in butter. Stir in chocolate. Pour into chilled tart shell. Cover top with nuts, pressing them halfway down into the filling. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 , and continue baking until crust and nuts are golden, about 35 minutes. If tart gets too brown, place aluminum foil over top for remainder of cooking time. Cool on wire rack.

Macadamia Nut-Coconut Tart
Source:Gastronomy on February 10, 2000

Crust:
3/8 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter
2 Tbl. crushed almonds
pinch of salt
1 egg yolk
2 Tbl. cream
1 1/4 cup cake flour

Method:
Cream together the first 4 ingredients. Add the egg yolk and cream and mix. Add the flour and mix well. Press the dough into a 10 inch pie pan and set aside.

Filling:
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 stick butter, melted
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup macadamia nuts, chopped

Method:
Mix ingredients together and pour into the tart shell. Bake at 325 degrees for 20 min.

Mushroom-Macadamia Tart

2 refrigerated ready-made crusts
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
2 tablespoons chopped shallot
6 ounces fresh mushrooms, chopped fine
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1-1/4 cups (about 6-1/2 ounces) salted roasted macadamia nuts, ground fine in a food processor
Freshly grated nutmeg
12 to 15 salted roasted macadamia nuts
1 large egg, beaten with a pinch of salt, for glaze

Prepare dough and refrigerate. To make filling, melt butter in a deep skillet, add shallot, and saut over low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add mushrooms, salt, and pepper and cook over medium-high heat, stirring often, for 3 minutes or until mixture is dry. Transfer to a bowl; let cool to room temperature. Whisk cream with egg and yolks until blended. Add mushroom mixture and parsley, and mix well. Gently stir in ground nuts. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Butter an 8-inch round fluted tart pan with a removable rim. Let crust dough soften 1 minute before rolling it. Roll about two-thirds of dough on a lightly floured surface to a round about 1/8-inch thick and about 10 inches in diameter. Roll dough loosely around rolling pin and unroll it over tart pan. Gently ease dough into pan. Using your thumb, push dough down slightly at top edge of pan, making top edge of dough thicker than remaining dough. Roll rolling pin across pan to cut off excess dough. With your finger and thumb, press dough gently against pan so that it rises 1/4 inch above the rim. Prick bottom of shell lightly with a fork. Refrigerate shell for 30 minutes. Roll remaining dough to a thin sheet and cut in strips about 3/8 inch wide and 8-1/2 inches long. Refrigerate strips side by side on a lightly floured plate. If they become stiff, let them soften about 5 minutes at room temperature before using them. Put a baking sheet in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Spoon cool filling into tart shell. Brush rim of shell lightly with egg glaze. Arrange 4 pastry strips parallel to each other at equal intervals above filling. Press to stick ends of each strip to glazed rim. Arrange 4 more parallel strips crossing first group of strips in a diamond pattern. Stick these strips to rim. Remove excess dough by pressing edges of strips against rim of pan. Set tart carefully on hot baking sheet and bake it for 10 minutes. Pull out oven shelf, leaving tart on baking sheet in oven. Set macadamia nuts on filling between pastry strips; brush nuts and strips quickly with egg glaze. Reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees F. and bake tart for 25 minutes, or until pastry browns and filling sets. Transfer tart to a rack and let it cool for 10 minutes. Remove sides of pan. (Tart can be kept, covered, overnight in refrigerator.) Serve it hot, warm, or at room temperature.

Yield: 8 appetizer or 6 main-course servings