Gourment Kosher Style: Salted Caramel Pecan Tart

Last week was my first week back at work after a while away. And while I love my job, I feel like the first week back after a vacation is always a slog. It was a week of checking emails and listening to the Top 100 Billboard list on Spotify over and over again (OK, one aside: That new Taylor Swift song, the one where she's learning her colors, there's this one part that almost sounds like morse code. And I always wonder: What is she trying to communicate? Is she asking for help? An SOS? Relationship advice? Somebody help her! But then I figure she's just probably trying to make her song dance-y and I'm not worried anymore). After a week like that, all you want is junk food, pretty much anything with lots of sugar. A while ago, a friend here recommended the latest Food Network magazine, as it has an entire section with recipes featuring salted caramel. And who doesn't love salted caramel? Not I, said the duck. 

So when I was looking through the magazine again, trying to decide what to make for dessert for Friday night dinner, of course I decided on the dessert with toasted pecans and chocolate goodness in addition to the salted caramel. I wanted to make the dessert pareve[a yiddish term meaning containing neither dairy nor meat ingredients; also, colloquially used as a synonym for 'neutral'. As in, 'Oh, wow! What did you think of (insert name here)'s dress at the Emmy's? Eh, it was kind of pareve.'] because traditionally Shabbat meals feature meat, and Orthodox Jews dont' eat milk and meat together in the same meal. However, I wasn't sure it would work out with substituted ingredients. (Ok, I lied, two asides: A while ago, Buzzfeed featured a Thankgiving menu for Chanuka, because the two overlap this year, and they declared that it couldn't be done kosher because Thanksgiving food needed lots and lots of butter. Now, I like butter as much as the next person, but don't tell me an entire meal can't be made kosher. We orthodox do it every single week and we do it right.)

I'm very glad to report I needn't have worried about substituted ingredients. I don't know what it would taste like with all the authentic butter and cream, but let me tell you, with the substitutions, it worked out juuust fine. 

Salted Caramel Pecan Tart

Adapted from Food Network Magazine

Serves 8 (if you all are good sharers)

For the crust:

Cooking Spray

1 3/4 cups pecans

1 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

6 tablespoons cold Earth Balance margarine, cut into small pieces

1 large egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the filling:

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 cup non-dairy whipped topping, thawed

4 tablespoons Earth Balance Margarine, at room temp

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 ounce pareve chocolate chips

Sea salt, for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly coat a 9 inch fluted tart pan with cooking spray. Spread the pecans on a baking sheet and roast until golden brown, about ten minutes. Eat some of pecans to make sure they're not poisoned. They're fine. Eat one more just to be sure. Still fine. Let them cool.

Transfer 1/2 cup of the pecans to a food processor and add the flour, sugar and kosher salt and pulse until the nuts are finely ground. 

Looks good to me.

Add the butter and pulse until it is in pea-size bits. Pulse in the egg yolk and vanilla until large clumps form. 

Ready to make the crust full of delicious fake-buttery goodness.

Transfer the dough to the prepared pan and press it into the bottom and up the sides. Prick the bottom all over with a fork, then freeze until firm, about 20 minutes.

Step one for the crust...                                                                         ...Step two for the crust!

Put the crust into the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown. Let the crust cool completely.

Make the caramel for the filling: combine the sugar, 1/4 cup of water and kosher salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar just dissolves. Cook, swirling the pan but not stirring, until amber, 8-10 minutes. Brush any sugar crystals off the edge of the pan with a wet pastry brush. 

Getting there! (This is actually my second batch. My first batch burned. Mistakes happen!)

Remove from heat (but don't turn off the burner--you'll need it again in a minute) and whisk in the butter, whipped topping, and vanilla. Return to the heat and simmer, whisking constantly, until thick enough to coat a spoon, 3-4 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes. 

Whisk the eggs and flour together in a bowl until smooth, and then whisk in the caramel. Place the crust on a baking sheet, and arrange the remaining pecans in the bottom and add the filling. Bake until set around the edge, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.

Almost there, but come on...what's a dessert without chocolate?

Put the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring until smooth. Drizzle over the tart and sprinkle with sea salt. Let the chocolate set before slicing.

It looks wwaaaaaayyyy more professional in Food Network Magazine. But there you have it! A great, pareve dessert for any meal. 

Love and pecans,

Dalia