Maple and Pecans Creamy Tartlets

This is from the issue of April 2006 of Coup de Pouce. The taste of the butter crust goes well with the taste of maple but if you want to save time, you can also buy store-bought dough (fresh or frozen, about 1 lb in total) or even better : frozen tartlets crust. If you have leftovers of garnish and dough, you can do more tartlets and fill the empty muffin tins with a little bit of water.

• Ready In: 50 mins
• Yields: 10-12 tartlets

Ingredients

• Tartlets Crust

• 2 1⁄2 cups flour
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄4 cup  cold butter, diced
• 1⁄4 cup  cold shortening, diced
• 1  tablespoon sugar
• 1  egg, cold
• 2  tablespoons cold water (around)
• 1  tablespoon lemon juice

• Maple and Pecans Garnish

• 2  cups maple syrup
• 1⁄3 cup heavy cream
• 1⁄4 cup flour
• 3  eggs
• 2⁄3 cup pecans or 2⁄3 cup walnuts, roughly chopped

Directions

1. Tartlets Crust Preparation : In a large bowl, mix flour and salt. Add butter and shortening, and with a pastry blender or with 2 knifes, work the mixture until it has the texture of rough breadcrumbs. Add sugar and stir. In another bowl, beat the egg, water and lemon juice. Pour slowly the egg mixture in the flour mixture, mixing fast with a fork until the mixture forms a dough (add a little bit more water if needed).
2. Separate the dough into two equal parts, flatten each part in a disc and wrap with plastic wrap. Put in the fridge for at least 1 hour or until the dough is firm. (You can do this in advance and put it in the fridge. It will be good up to 3 days in the fridge).
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out a serving of dough to a thickness of 1/8 inch. With a round pastry cutter of 5 inches of diameter, cut 5 or 6 circles of dough in the dough. Do the same with the remaining dough. (roll out the remaining dough, if needed, and keep it for another use). Put the circles in medium muffin tins grooving lightlly the surround. Put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
4. Garnish Preparation : In a bowl, with a whisk, mix maple syrup, cream, flour and eggs. Spread pecans in the crusts, then pour the maple syrup garnish (fill to 3/4).
5. Cook in the preheated oven of 400 F on the third lower rack 15 to 20 minutes or until the garnish is bubbly and crust is golden. Remove from oven and let cool on a rack for 10 minutes. Put the blade of a knife on the surround of the muffin tins to loose the tartlets. Unfold delicately on the rack. Let cool.