Drinks advice

Walnut tart with A. v. Wees Zeer Oude Genever

On the plate lies a wedge of walnut tart: two layers of shortcrust with muscovado sugar around a filling of coarsely chopped walnuts in caramel of caster sugar and cream. Set against it is a very old genever of forty percent, traditionally distilled, whose high malt wine content brings the same nut and caramel tone as the tart.

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Walnut tart and honey
Photo: avlxyz, CC BY-SA 2.0

From the shelf

The bottle

A. v. Wees Zeer Oude Genever comes from the A. van Wees distillery in Amsterdam and is a very old genever of 40% vol in a 70 cl bottle. The description calls it traditionally distilled; it gives neither a precise malt wine share nor a maturation period, and we therefore do not mention them. By law, the designation oude jenever requires at least 35% vol and at least 15% of the alcohol from malt wine, with at most 20 grams of sugar per litre. At 40% vol this bottle is clearly above that minimum.

A. v. Wees Zeer Oude Genever

The combination

Why this works together

Walnut tart works on two things that belong with jenever: the bitterness of the walnut and the burnt sweetness of caramel that has stood on the heat for eight to ten minutes. The shortcrust pastry with muscovado sugar adds a layer of molasses underneath. A young jenever has nothing to contribute against such a dessert; it stands next to it cold and empty. A very old genever is exactly in place here, because malt wine develops nutty and caramel notes by itself during ageing, and those run seamlessly alongside the filling. The forty percent alcohol does the work that a nut tart needs: it clears away the fat of the butter and the whipped cream and makes sure the slice does not cling. The light bitterness of the juniper berry joins the bitterness in the skin of the walnut. That way the glass becomes an extension of the plate instead of a closer afterwards.

At the table

The dish

  • For 4 people
  • Ready in 30 minutes, plus 1 hour and 45 minutes cooling and 35 minutes in the oven
  • Type dessert

What you need

  • 225 g wheat flour
  • 50 g white muscovado sugar
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 160 g unsalted butter
  • 2 medium eggs
  • 125 g granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 125 g unroasted walnuts
  • 125 ml whipping cream
  • a 22 cm springform tin, greased
  • baking paper, plastic wrap and a rolling pin

How to make it

  1. Sift the flour into a bowl and mix it with the muscovado sugar and the salt. Cut the butter into cubes, add them and rub everything into crumbs.
  2. Beat one egg and knead it into the dough to form a ball; add 1 teaspoon of water if needed. Divide the dough into two halves, flatten them, wrap them separately in foil and refrigerate for 1 hour.
  3. Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Put the granulated sugar with half of the water in a heavy-bottomed pan and let it boil over low heat for 8 to 10 minutes to a deep golden-brown caramel; do not stir once it boils.
  4. Meanwhile roughly chop the walnuts. Carefully pour the cream into the caramel, because it will spatter, and stir for about 1 minute until everything has dissolved. Take the pan off the heat, stir in the walnuts and let the filling cool to room temperature.
  5. Take the dough out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature for 15 minutes. Line the springform tin with baking paper. Roll out both halves of dough into rounds of 22 cm.
  6. Place one round in the tin, spoon the walnut filling on top, lay the second round over it and press the edges closed.
  7. Beat the second egg loose with the rest of the water and brush it over the top. Bake the pie for 30 to 35 minutes in the middle of the oven until golden brown and let it cool for about 30 minutes before you cut it.

In the glass

Serving

Pour this very old genever at room temperature into a tulip glass, filled to the rim. The nutty and caramel tones from the malt wine only come out at around 18 °C and cannot be found when it is chilled. Serve a small glass with a narrow slice of cake; at 40% vol this bottle is robust and does not call for a large measure.

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Wij verkopen geen alcohol aan personen onder de 18 jaar. NIX18