Tarta de Nueces

Asturians love tarta de nueces almost as much as Southerners in the US love pecan pie. It is ubiquitous during the autumn months and everyone has a favorite family recipe. It’s not particularly close to pecan pie as far as recipes go. However, it really does occupy the same culinary space and serve the same cultural purpose. And most of them are really really good.

I could have just gone straight for the obvious when making my recipe. That is, make an old fashioned pecan pie without corn syrup and just swap out pecans for walnuts. I wanted to do something a little more special though. I have very much enjoyed all of the versions in Asturias that simply grind up walnuts and stick them together with some eggs and toss it in the oven. They do have a drawback in that they almost always end up very crumbly. So I added some flour to hold things together.

I also decided that brown sugar, common in American baking but essentially unknown in Spain, would go a long way to deepening the flavors in the cake.

The honey glaze in place of much of the sugar common in recipes these days is a throw-back to per-industrial cooking, but I think it works really well with the toasted walnuts and homemade brown sugar. The result is a tarta de nueces that is rooted firmly in pre-industrial cooking in Asturias, but makes use of a wider range of culinary influences.

A Brief History of Walnuts

For a bit of history, and to understand why walnuts were so popular in Asturias, let’s see the development of walnut cultivation in Europe.

From its origin in central Asia, the Persian (or English) Walnut (Juglans regia) spread out to western China, the Caucasus, Persia, and Europe. Evident in southern France as early as 17,000 years ago, they were later pushed out by the last ice age.

Neolithic people were cultivating walnuts again in Europe by 7,000 BC. However, they did not make major inroads into Mediterranean agriculture until the Greeks. The Romans dispersed Walnut groves across the whole face of Europe. So much so that you could trace the advance of the Roman empire by dating the first appearance of walnut (and apple) groves.

Walnuts arrived in Asturias in the 4th century, at a time when it was being promoted as something of a medicinal cure-all in addition to their culinary uses. Throughout the centuries, the medical lore of walnuts would grow to include curing insomnia, and even sexual impotence. And more importantly for our story, they supposedly improved digestion.

For this reason, walnut desserts became a serious business in Europe. Some variation on tarta de nueces has existed in Asturias since the 4th century. Long gone is the memory of why we originally put walnuts in so many desserts and why they don’t appear often in other courses. But we do have this really great tasting link to the past.

Ingredients

• 500 g Walnuts
• 50 g all-purpose flour. Plus more for the pan
• 4 eggs
• 200 g light brown sugar. Plus more for the walnuts
• 85 g unsalted butter. Melted and allowed to cool
• 120 ml honey
• 120 ml water
• 40 ml brandy or cognac.

Instructions

For the Walnuts

1. To prepare the walnuts for this cake, we first toast them with a pinch of salt and a pinch or two of brown sugar. This will add a hint of a smoky flavor and a touch of bitterness to them that is really important as a counterpoint in a dessert this sweet.
2. The easiest way to toast them is in a 175C (350F) oven for 6-8 minutes. They will take on a deep mahogany color. They should smell very “nutty” without being burnt. This is a lot of nuts, however. You might have to do this in two batches, and you might need to stir them a couple times in the process to guarantee even toasting.
3. Allow them to cool to room temperature. Once they have cooled off, grind all but a few of the nuts in a food processor or blender. Rustic chunky bits are fine, so don’t obsess over trying to get a perfect grind. These aren’t coffee beans!
4. Stir the ground nuts together with the flour and set aside.

For the Cake

1. Preheat your oven to 175C (350F).
2. Butter and flour a medium (9 inch) springform cake pan.
3. With an electric mixer, either stand or handheld, beat the eggs on medium low until nicely  combined.
4. Add the brown sugar and beat until the mixture is fluffy, thick, and the color has lightened. This will take about 5 minutes.
5. Drizzle in the butter while the mixer is running.
6. Remove from the mixer and stir in your chopped walnuts.
7. Pour the batter into your prepared pan.
8. Bake on the middle rack for 45 minutes, or until the cake is firm to the touch.

For the Glaze

While the cake is baking, prepare your syrup:

1. In a saucepan, combine the water and honey and bring to a boil.
2. Let cool, and once the bubbling has stopped, stir in your brandy.
3. When the cake comes out of the oven, do not remove it from the pan.
4. Instead, pour your syrup all over the top of the cake and allow it to stand in the pan for at least an hour.
5. Decorate the top with the reserved whole walnuts.

Notes

• Serve at room temperature, sliced very thinly. I usually make 16 slices from a cake this size.