Almond Caramel Tarts (Boat Tarts if you have boat molds)

The boat tarts in Goldilocks is one of their best sellers.  The sweetness of the filling and the crunchiness of the cashew makes them really yummy.  When I was still single, I would always make them in our house in Sagrada and everyone loved the tarts.  I had this Maya Baking Book that I was using then but unfortunately someone borrowed it and had forgotten to return the book to me.

I have been trying to look for its recipe on the internet even at the aussie cookbooks I have here at home but there was not a single one that would really make the tarts taste like the one in the Maya cookbook.  What I did then is to just select and pick and revise all the recipes.  The tarts recipe I am sharing with you is the result.  I hope you enjoy them as much as my family did last night.

Ingredients:

Crust:
2 C of all purpose flour
2 eggs
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 c butter
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp water

Filling:
1/2 C condensed milk
1/2 C almond, chopped or almond flakes
2 egg yolks
1/2 sugar
1 stick butter

Meringue
2 egg whites
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 C sugar

Procedure:

Crust
Sift sugar, salt and flour in a bowl.  Cut in the butter into the mixture.  Add eggs and water.  Knead a little just make sure that the dough is well blended.  Roll out the dough into a lightly floured surface.  Make it 1/4 - 1/8 " thick.  Cut with a cookie cutter in a size enough to cover your greased boat tart molds or small muffin pans.  Place cut doughs into the molds.  Set aside.

Filling
Use a whisk or electric in creaming the butter.  Put in all the other ingredients and mix.
Pour 1 tbsp of the mixture into the tart pastry.

Meringue
Beat the white eggs with the cream of tartar using an electric mixer until soft peaks form.  Add sugar little by little while mixing continuously.

Baking
Bake the caramel tarts in 175C preheated oven for 25 minutes.  Take them out at 20 minutes, put the meringue on top using a piping bag or spoon.

Note:  To cut in the butter, use fork or your hands if you don't have a pastry cutter.  You can also use any jar lid to cut the pastry.

A comment or two will be appreciated...