Superbly Swedish Almond Tarts

December 14, 2011

I keep meaning to show you my tree and the little San Francisco village under the tree, but I postpone that again today and instead show you my little almond tarts, an homage to my Scandinavian heritage. My family loves these and hope you enjoy them too! Recipe below.

I use a wooden spoon handle to poke a hole in the dough.

Nana used little traditional tarts pans like these but I prefer the non-stick pans.

Fill with scant teaspoon and sprinkle with nuts if desired.

If you run out of filling you can fill them with jam.

Sand Tarts

Cream together 1 C butter and 1 C sugar with 2 egg yolks. Add 2 1/2 C cake flour, 1 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. almond extract and 1 C finely chopped almonds. Chill dough for an hour or more. Form into walnut sized balls and and place in tartlet tin and work dough up the sides. Fill with scant teaspoon of filling, sprinkle with chopped almonds and bake at 350 F for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool before removing from pan.

Almond Filling

Beat 1 egg with 1/2 C sugar and 4 oz. almond paste until smooth.

These are wonderful for breakie the next day, cold from the fridge with a cup of coffee.