Caramel nut tarts

Babiche Martens

On a recent trip to Italy I took of photo of a delicious pistachio caramel tart I ate in Como and this is my version, using peanuts alongside the pistachios. It’s perfect for a sweet treat, served with a coffee, or bag it up for a scrumptious gift.

Pastry

1 ¼ cups	Plain flour
½ cup	Icing sugar
½ tsp	Ground ginger
150 g	Cold butter, cubed (Main)

Filling

50 g	Butter
1 cup	Brown sugar
¼ cup	Cream
1	Egg, whisked

Caramel nuts

¼ cup	Runny honey (Main)
¼ cup	Caster sugar
50 g	Butter
½ cup	Toasted peanuts, chopped (Main)
¾ cup	Toasted pistachios (Main)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. To make the pastry, into a food processor place the flour, icing sugar, ginger and cold butter. Blitz until it forms a dough ball. Place on to a lightly floured bench and roll to½cm thick. Using a cutter, make 24 rounds and press carefully into 2 x 12 mini muffin tins. Place into the fridge until ready to bake.
3. For the filling, into a small saucepan place the butter, sugar and cream, warming through until the sugar has dissolved. Cool, then add the egg. Divide the mixture between tart cases, then bake for 20 minutes. Allow to cool before removing the tarts from the tins.
4. To make the caramel nuts, into a small saucepan place the honey, sugar and butter. Melt slowly then bring to a simmer, stirring until it turns a light caramel colour. Remove from the heat and stir through the nuts. Place teaspoonfuls on to the top of the tarts and allow to harden before enjoying. Store in an airtight container.

More of Angela's Italian holiday treats

• Almond, mascarpone and strawberry gelato
• Apple strudel