Rustic Walnut Tart with Bourbon Whipped Cream
As silly as this sounds, until I saw my Rack of Lamb menu from the ATK Menu Cookbook, I never thought of making any sort of a nut pie/tart other than pecan. It was a definite A-HA! moment for me when I saw this recipe for the Rustic Walnut Tart with Bourbon Whipped Cream. I’m so glad ATK has this recipe in the cookbook.
The tart dough is subtly sweet and crispy. The walnuts provide a great texture since they’re a softer nut. And the bourbon whipped cream? I was eating that stuff with a spoon. This would make another great addition to your Easter menu.
One Year Ago: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes and Pina Colada Cupcakes
Two Years Ago: Lemon Cilantro Potato Salad
Three Years Ago: Black Bean and Butternut Squash Quesadillas and Cinnamon Biscuits
Four Years Ago: Dorie’s Perfect Party Cake
Rustic Walnut Tart with Bourbon Whipped Cream
Ingredients (serves 8)
For the Crust
- 1 cup (5 ounces) fl our
- 1/3 cup packed (2â…“ ounces) brown sugar
- 1/4 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped coarse
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into ½ -inch pieces and chilled
For the Filling
- 1/2 cup packed (3½ ounces) brown sugar
- 1/3 cup light corn syrup
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 Tbsp bourbon or dark rum
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 egg
- 1 3/4 cups walnuts (7 ounces), chopped coarse
For the Whipped Cream
- 1 cup heavy cream, chilled
- 1/4 cup bourbon or dark rum (optional)
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp vanilla
- Pinch salt
Instructions
For the Crust
Grease 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Process flour, sugar, walnuts, salt, and baking powder in food processor until combined, about 5 pulses. Sprinkle butter over top and pulse
until mixture is pale yellow and resembles coarse cornmeal, about 8 pulses.
Sprinkle mixture into prepared pan. Press crumbs firmly into an even layer over pan bottom and up sides using bottom of dry measuring cup. Set tart pan on large plate, cover with plastic wrap, and freeze for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 week.
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Set tart pan on baking sheet. Press double layer aluminum foil into frozen tart shell and over edges of pan and fill with pie weights. Bake until tart shell is golden brown and set, about 30 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through baking. Let tart shell cool slightly while making filling.
For the filling
Whisk sugar, corn syrup, butter, bourbon, vanilla, and salt in large bowl until sugar dissolves. Whisk in egg until combined. Pour filling evenly into tart shell and sprinkle with walnuts. Bake until filling is set and walnuts begin to brown, 30 to 40 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Let tart cool completely, about 2 hours. (Tart can be
refrigerated for up 2 days; bring to room temperature before serving.)
For the whipped cream
Using stand mixer fitted with whisk, whip cream, bourbon, if using, sugar, vanilla, and salt
on medium-low speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Increase speed to high and whip until soft peaks form, 1 to 3 minutes. (Whipped cream can be refrigerated for up to 8 hours; rewhisk briefly before serving.)
To serve, remove outer ring from tart pan, slide thin metal spatula between tart and tart pan bottom, and carefully slide tart onto serving platter or cutting board. Slice tart into pieces and serve with whipped cream.
Recipe from America’s Test Kitchen
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
This sounds amazing! I’d be shocked if the people you manage don’t think you’re the best boss ever!
beantownbaker — May 1st, 2013 @ 7:56 am
Ha, I’m ok with bribing them with baked goods into feeling that way 🙂
I wish my boss would do something like this for us. This cake sounds phenomenal! Anything that tastes like a donut gets an A+ from me!
beantownbaker — May 1st, 2013 @ 7:57 am
I had a boss once who would bring a store bought cake and cut it into the same number of pieces as there were people at the meeting. And he made us sing. It was horrible.
Definitely the best boss when you get homemade cakes that have been compared to a glazed donut! Congrats!!
beantownbaker — May 1st, 2013 @ 9:05 am
Thanks 🙂 I am pretty lucky in that my team is pretty awesome too.
Congratulations on the promotion! Your team sounds lucky to have you and this cake looks gorgeous!
beantownbaker — May 1st, 2013 @ 4:21 pm
Thanks!
Congratulations on the promotion!! This looks and sounds delicious!
beantownbaker — May 2nd, 2013 @ 9:05 am
Thanks
oh my! a giant glazed donut in cake form??!! yes please! i am sort of curious though as to why it’s called a kentucky butter cake 🙂
beantownbaker — May 2nd, 2013 @ 9:04 am
I have no idea why it’s called Kentucky butter cake. I did a quick Google search and it doesn’t look like anyone knows.
I’m glad there’s no explanation as to why it’s called a Kentucky Butter Cake, because I am making this for a themed food fest at work next week, and I’m changing it to Hawaiian Butter Cake so that I don’t have to find another recipe. 🙂
beantownbaker — May 2nd, 2013 @ 12:07 pm
I like the way you work 🙂
The staff meeting treat sounds like a regular monthly blog post…cant wait to see what is on deck next month
beantownbaker — May 2nd, 2013 @ 12:08 pm
For sure! I have already started asking my team members who have May birthdays about what they’d like. One said anything with chocolate. One said anything but chocolate. So that’s going to be a challenge! Luckily I’m the only June birthday so I’m going to go all out for June!
Ever seen The Office? Hehe… they looove birthday parties! And that’s so sweet that you’re acknowledging your workers like that. I’m sure you’re a great boss!
beantownbaker — May 2nd, 2013 @ 12:08 pm
Ha – if only we could all have parties like they do on The Office…
best boss ever 🙂 this looks fantastic!! we have birthday buddies that we bring cake for, and it’s a pretty awesome tradition 🙂
beantownbaker — May 2nd, 2013 @ 4:13 pm
Oh I like the birthday buddies idea! I’m not sure that would work for my team since it’s ~80% guys… I do joke that everyone needs a buddy cause sometimes I look around and can’t tell who we’re missing. It would be a lot easier to just ask if everyone’s buddy was here like when we were kids on field trips.
Yum! Looks devine! Such a perfect looking cake and the glaze makes it look extra shiny and pretty!
Oh, this is such a perfect looking cake 🙂
Oh, I so want a slice of this! Love cakes that are soaked with syrup. So yummy!
i made this on Friday for a brunch on Saturday. It was delicious and I got lots of compliments! I was surprised when i made it because there were no instructions about adding the butter to the batter. I assumed that the butter should be softened and mixed in, but I would’ve expected it to be mixed in earlier so that it would incorporate more fully. You might consider adding clarification to that step.
beantownbaker — May 6th, 2013 @ 5:46 pm
Glad you enjoyed the cake. The second sentence in the second step talks about adding the butter. Are the instructions confusing?
I think I’ve seen this recipe elsewhere on the interwebs… (of course my eye is drawn to anything Kentucky, my home state!) Glad to hear it’s so good!
beantownbaker — May 6th, 2013 @ 5:47 pm
It’s definitely out there on the web! I couldn’t find any info about why it’s called Kentucky Butter Cake though. Do you know anything about it? Do you guys eat it in Kentucky?
So the glaze is on the bottom of the cake correct? You don’t reserve any to pour over the top?
beantownbaker — May 13th, 2013 @ 8:24 am
Yep, you pour it all in to the bottom of the cake while it’s in the pan.
Hi there! Wonderful cake. Just wondering — did you let the cake sit overnight with the syrup soaking?
beantownbaker — September 10th, 2013 @ 7:58 am
Yep, I let the cake sit overnight after adding the syrup.