Sweet Potato Tarts with Brown Sugar-Walnut Streusel
Photo: Richard Gerhard Jung
A little brown sugar and spice transforms a basic sweet potato into this scrumptious tart topped with a crunchy walnut streusel.
Note: You will need 4 four-inch tart pans with removable bottoms.
Serves 6
Ingredients
Pie crust:
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp. sugar
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 8 Tbsp. (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 2 to 3 Tbsp. ice water
- 1 pound sweet potatoes, scrubbed
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. ginger
- 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 3⁄4 cup pecans or walnuts, crushed
- 6 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream
Directions
To make crust: In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, sugar, and salt. Pulse once or twice to combine. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. With machine still pulsing, add ice water, 1 Tbsp. at a time. (Dough should hold together when squeezed in your hand.) On a lightly floured board, form a disc with dough. Cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
To make filling: Preheat oven to 400°. Place potatoes on a foil-lined baking sheet and pierce with a fork 2 or 3 times.
Bake 1 hour, or until very tender. Remove and let cool enough to touch. Halve potatoes lengthwise and scrape flesh from skins. Discard skins. With an electric mixer, whip potatoes until smooth. Add remaining filling ingredients and mix until just blended.
Remove dough from refrigerator and let sit, unwrapped, until just pliable, about 6 to 8 minutes. Divide dough into quarters. Roll out dough until it’s 1 to 1 1/2 inches larger than tart pans (making it 1/4 to 1/8 inch thick). Carefully lay dough in pans, gently pressing it against sides. Trim excess by moving a rolling pin over top of pans. Place pans unwrapped in the freezer for 10 minutes before cooking.
Pierce bottom of dough all over with fork tines. Cover with foil, and place pie weights or uncooked beans on top of foil. Cook 10 minutes at 400° until just golden. Carefully remove foil and continue baking 7 minutes more, or until golden brown. Remove pans from oven and cool on rack.
Pour filling into tart crusts. Return pans to oven and bake at 350° on a foil-lined baking sheet an additional 12 minutes. Filling will be only partly set.
Meanwhile, to make streusel: Combine all ingredients in a bowl and rub with your fingers until mixture resembles coarse meal. Carefully top tarts with streusel and continue baking 8 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
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