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Derby Day Tassies
Adapted from Three Hundred Years of Carolina Cooking
Note: My mother insists that margarine is essential to the texture of the tassie shell. You can replace margarine with butter, but you'll need to add 1/4 cup extra flour. Make dough one recipe at a time instead of doubling. Please note that the baking temperatures and times for the Lemon and Pecan Tassies vary.
Derby Day Tassies
About This Recipe
| Yield: | Makes 2 dozen per recipe |
| This recipe appears in: | How to Throw a Kentucky Derby Party |
Ingredients
- 3 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 stick margarine or butter, softened (see headnote)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour; sifted
- Pecan Filling:
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon soft butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2/3 cup toasted, chopped pecans
- Dash salt
- Lemon Filling:
- 1/4 stick butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- Grated rind of one lemon
- 2 eggs beaten
- Juice of two small lemons
Procedures
-
1
For Pastry: Blend cream cheese and margarine and add flour; blend until fully incorporated. Chill the dough overnight in the refrigerator or for an hour in the freezer.
-
2
Divide and shape into 2 dozen balls. Place in ungreased 1 3/4” muffin tin. Press dough in bottom and side of cup.
-
3
Refrigerate pans while making the filling.
-
4
For Pecan Filling: Beat together egg, sugar, butter, vanilla, salt.
-
5
Divide half of the nuts among cups. Add 1 teaspoon of filling on top of pecans. Top with remaining pecans. The pastry puffs so don’t get the shells too full.
-
6
Bake at 325°F for 25 minutes or until filling has set. Let tassies cool in the pan and remove.
-
7
For Lemon Filling: Cream sugar and butter. Add lemon rind and beaten eggs to the mixture. Stir in lemon juice.
-
8
Divide the filling between the shells, being careful not to over fill them.
-
9
Bake at 350°F for 20 to 25 minutes.
