Macadamia Nut Tarts

October 22: National Nut Day

We posted a pecan tassie recipe for National Pecan Day on April 14. Below is a similar recipe using macadamias for National Nut Day today. This was Islander’s brother’s home economics cooking project from the eighth grade (late 1980s!) in Hawaii, which we still make quite often on the mainland for an island-inspired dessert. Although other nuts, such as pecans and walnuts, may be used, add some aloha to these tasty tarts and make them with macadamia nuts instead.

Recipe

(From Kahuna B.)

For the crust

• 6 tablespoons butter, softened
• 3-ounce block of cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup flour

Directions

In a mixing bowl, stir the butter with cream cheese until smooth. Add the flour and blend well to make a dough. Roll into big ball. Divide into 24 smaller balls (about an inch round).

Flatten each ball into a small disc and shape to fit the wells of an ungreased mini-muffin pan. Continue making all the crusts.

For the macadamia nut filling

• 2 tablespoons butter
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2/3 cup macadamia nuts, chopped

Directions

In a small bowl, cream the butter with the sugar. Beat in the egg. Stir in the vanilla. Mix in the macadamia nuts.

Fill each crust with the nut mixture. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool completely in the pan. Carefully remove each macadamia nut tart from the pan with a small knife.

Notes

• Substitute macadamias for pecans or walnuts in this tart recipe.
• Make more delicious desserts with macadamia nuts, such as vanilla-macadamia nut fudge, caramel popcorn with macadamia nuts, chocolate-covered macadamia nuts, triple chocolate macadamia nut kisses cookies and macadamia nut white chocolate chip cookies. Recipes have been previously posted on our blog.
• Nuts about nuts? Search our blog for more recipes containing macadamias, pecans, walnuts, peanuts or filberts (hazelnuts).

Brandied Tropical Fruit Compote

October 20: National Brandied Fruit Day

Islander’s family would often buy dried tropical fruits from the vendors at the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet and Marketplace. They would sprinkle li hing powder on the fruits to make a popular local snack.

Instead of li hing dried fruit, we tried a different recipe on the mainland—a brandied compote. Compote means “mixture” in French and refers to a dessert made of fruit in syrup.

While compote can be eaten on its own, we use it as a relish/condiment. Brandied tropical fruit compote lends a sweet texture to plain vanilla ice cream or yogurt and is an alternative spread on toasted Hawaiian sweet bread/Portuguese pão doce.

Bring brandy and the tropics together by cooking a compote on National Brandied Fruit Day.

 Recipe

(Adapted from Southern Living magazine – November 1999 via MyRecipes.com)

Ingredients

• 3 ½ cups dried fruit mix (we used a tropical mix of mango, pineapple and papaya)
• 1 ½ cups water
• ¾ cup sugar (we reduced this amount to ¼ cup because the fruits were already naturally sweet)
• ½ cup brandy (we used Cognac)
• shredded coconut for optional garnish

Directions

Chop the dried fruit into smaller chunks. Place in a saucepan and pour water over the dried fruit. Stir in the sugar. Add the brandy. Simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and chill in bowl to allow the syrup to thicken. Serve in ramekins. Garnish with shredded coconut.

Notes

• See our blog recipe post for li hing (dried) apricots on National Apricot Day on January 9.
• See our upcoming blog recipe post for pão doce on National Homemade Bread Day on November 17.

Wilfra Apple Cake

October 12: Feast Day of St. Wilfrid

If a certain dessert is “American as apple pie,” then this similar sweet is as British as Wilfra apple cake. This recipe is associated with St. Wilfred, a seventh century bishop who established several churches and monasteries, oversaw a large diocese and preached to the pagans in England.

English culture and cuisine influenced the colonists of early America. Wilfra apple cake is probably a precursor to apple pasty/pastie and pie. The unique ingredient, however, is the shredded cheddar cheese which, when melted, binds the apple filling together.

For a different yet delicious dessert that is a cross between a cake and a pie, try Wilfra apple cake on the Feast Day of St. Wilfrid.

Recipe

(Adapted from Cooking With the Saints by Ernst Scheugraf)

For the pastry dough

• 3 cups flour
• ¾ cup butter, softened
• pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 5 tablespoons water, cold

For the filling

• 1 ½ pound cooking apples (we used Granny Smith variety)
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup cheddar cheese, grated
• milk
• sugar

Directions

Cut the butter into small pieces. In a large bowl, rub the butter into the flour until it looks like coarse crumbs. Add the salt, sugar and lemon juice. Pour in the cold water and mix into a smooth dough. Divide in half. Roll each out to ¼ inch thick.

Lay one of the pastry pieces on the bottom of a well greased square (10 x 10 inch) or rectangle (8 x 12 inch) pan. Reserve the other pastry piece to put on top of the filling.

Peel the apples and slice them thinly. Put them in a bowl and sprinkle lemon juice to prevent browning. Mix in the brown sugar.

Add the cheddar cheese. Spread the apple mixture on top of the bottom pastry layer. Cover with the other pastry layer. Cut out shapes from the extra pastry dough to decorate the edges (optional).

Brush the top layer with a little milk. Finish off the edges (optional) with any cut-out pastry dough shapes. Sprinkle with sugar.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely to allow the juices from the apples to set with the cheese. Slice into squares and serve.

 

Notes

• If “apples are of your eyes,” then try the recipe for apple pie on National Apple Pie Day on December 3. Search our blog for other recipes containing apples as an ingredient.
• Leftover pastry dough can be used to make delicious “dokeyanas” (pets de souers). They are sweet, swirled cinnamon rolls that we blogged about on National Pastry Day on December 9.