Baklava Tarts

Delicately spiced nuts encased in tender, buttery pastry - even the burst of citrus from the lemon zest is authentic as you would normally find that in the syrup poured over the baklava. Easy to make and very good!

• Ready In: 50 mins
• Serves: 12

Ingredients

• Pastry

• 1⁄2 cup butter, room temperature
• 3  ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1  cup flour

• Walnut Filling

• 1 1⁄4 cups walnuts, coarsely chopped
• 1  cup brown sugar
• 3  tablespoons butter, melted
• 2  eggs
• 1  teaspoon vanilla
• 1  small lemon, zest of
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1⁄8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1  dash salt

Directions

1. To make pastry: Dump everything into a bowl, roll up your sleeves and get your hands right into it. Work the dough well and knead for a couple of minutes. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes (or more) before proceeding with recipe.
2. Make 12 balls of equal size out of the dough and tamp a pastry ball down into each of 12 non-stick muffin cups, making sure pastry covers bottom and comes 3/4s of the way up sides.
3. To make filling: Mix all filling ingredients together well. Carefully distribute filling mixture into pastry-lined muffin cups.
4. Preheat oven to 375°F.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes. The pastry should be a light golden colour (loosely tent with aluminium foil if walnuts are browning too quickly, but the mixture will be dark – like a pecan or walnut pie). Wait 2 minutes after removing from oven and very carefully, using the tip of a thin, pointed knife, gently knudge each tart out of its cup and transfer to a rack to cool. Some tarts may be a little stuck, just run the tip of the knife around then knudge gently.