Apple Walnut Tarts
Our intern's last day was today, and as he did not like cupcakes (this was the one and only negative about him; he was a totally awesome and hard-working intern), but did like pie, I made my world famous, award-winning vegan apple walnut tarts.
When I say world famous and award-winning, I mean they placed third in my company, which is international, bake-off. They totally tasted loads better than the other things. Vegan judges, grumble. (J/k, I love the vegans! Have some tasty tofu!)
Anyhow, I've made these for adjovi before, but that was before I got my kick-ass camera. Pics and recipe below the cut!
Crust:
1 ½ c. flour
1 tsp. salt
9 Tbsp. shortening
¼ - ½ c. ice water
Filling:
1 Braeburn apple
1 MacIntosh apple
½ c. chopped walnuts
¾ c. sugar
1 ½ tsp. cinnamon
Crumb Topping:
½ c. flour
1/3 c. sugar
4 Tbsp. vegan margarine
For the crust, mix the flour and salt together, then cut in the shortening w/ a pastry blender. Add the very cold water a little at a time, stirring w/ a spoon until dough comes together. Turn out onto lightly floured board. Roll out to between ¼ - 1/8 inch thickness. Use a floured biscuit cutter or a small glass to cut out circles (you may have to then roll the circles thinner in order to fit into the tart tray). I use a mini-cupcake tray and form the dough up the sides of each individual tart. The trick to flaky crust is to touch it as little as possible, so try to make the circles you cut out of the dough fairly close to what you’ll need for each tart.
For the filling, peel and dice the apples. Chop the walnuts up finely and add the sugar and cinnamon. Stir well, and drop by heaping teaspoon-full into the prepared tart crusts. You don’t need to leave too much room for the crumb toppings, but keep in mind that the tarts can boil over if they are filled above the rim.
For the crumb topping, mix the flour and sugar together, then cut in the margarine (I use Earth Balance) until the crumb topping is, well, crumbly. Sprinkle over each tart.
Bake tarts for about 25 minutes in a 400 degree oven. Keep an eye on them starting at the 20 minute mark for full-size tarts, 15 minutes for mini-cupcake size.
Feel free to sub in your favorite apple choices; I use Braeburn and Macs b/c they are not too soft and they are tart enough to accept the sugar mixture well. Other apples may be overly sweet.
Voila! Though one more note: I made these regular cupcake size instead of mini-cupcake size, and when making them bigger like this, up the number of apples to 3 (2 Braeburn to 1 Mac). This is the only cooked fruit pie I'll eat. I don't really like the texture of fruit pies, but the added walnuts help me out here. And they taste marvelous. :)
When I say world famous and award-winning, I mean they placed third in my company, which is international, bake-off. They totally tasted loads better than the other things. Vegan judges, grumble. (J/k, I love the vegans! Have some tasty tofu!)
Anyhow, I've made these for adjovi before, but that was before I got my kick-ass camera. Pics and recipe below the cut!
Crust:
1 ½ c. flour
1 tsp. salt
9 Tbsp. shortening
¼ - ½ c. ice water
Filling:
1 Braeburn apple
1 MacIntosh apple
½ c. chopped walnuts
¾ c. sugar
1 ½ tsp. cinnamon
Crumb Topping:
½ c. flour
1/3 c. sugar
4 Tbsp. vegan margarine
For the crust, mix the flour and salt together, then cut in the shortening w/ a pastry blender. Add the very cold water a little at a time, stirring w/ a spoon until dough comes together. Turn out onto lightly floured board. Roll out to between ¼ - 1/8 inch thickness. Use a floured biscuit cutter or a small glass to cut out circles (you may have to then roll the circles thinner in order to fit into the tart tray). I use a mini-cupcake tray and form the dough up the sides of each individual tart. The trick to flaky crust is to touch it as little as possible, so try to make the circles you cut out of the dough fairly close to what you’ll need for each tart.
For the filling, peel and dice the apples. Chop the walnuts up finely and add the sugar and cinnamon. Stir well, and drop by heaping teaspoon-full into the prepared tart crusts. You don’t need to leave too much room for the crumb toppings, but keep in mind that the tarts can boil over if they are filled above the rim.
For the crumb topping, mix the flour and sugar together, then cut in the margarine (I use Earth Balance) until the crumb topping is, well, crumbly. Sprinkle over each tart.
Bake tarts for about 25 minutes in a 400 degree oven. Keep an eye on them starting at the 20 minute mark for full-size tarts, 15 minutes for mini-cupcake size.
Feel free to sub in your favorite apple choices; I use Braeburn and Macs b/c they are not too soft and they are tart enough to accept the sugar mixture well. Other apples may be overly sweet.
Voila! Though one more note: I made these regular cupcake size instead of mini-cupcake size, and when making them bigger like this, up the number of apples to 3 (2 Braeburn to 1 Mac). This is the only cooked fruit pie I'll eat. I don't really like the texture of fruit pies, but the added walnuts help me out here. And they taste marvelous. :)