I won't let another year go by without feeding you this luscious tart. It sings with the flavor of a rose honey custard, which is offset by a glittering blanket of the finest pink salt. Oh, let my heart be still. This is a tart of exquisite taste. She only deserves to be served with the finest silver, upon the floral heirloom china. But lest one not have the finest china or the polished silver, this tart still aims to please. She's just as content on an old tin plate in a meadow filled with wildflowers.
I discovered her last year. She was frolicking on the internet in a post about bees and honey. A glorious post with glorious photographs and I immediately claimed her for my files. I baked her and served her and received rave reviews. So much so that I baked her again this year and she still was a hit.
Roses are one of my favorite flowers, (I prefer pink, thank you) though I never liked rose flavoring in food. Rose water is a very common flavoring in Persian and Middle Eastern desserts. I think the first time I tasted rosewater in a dessert was in a rice pudding. It just wasn't my thing. I thought I was eating perfume.But I'm older now and much more adventurous and something made me want to try this. Perhaps it was the glorious photos or perhaps it was that I am always looking for honey desserts in the fall.
I guarantee that this will be a hit, but if you are afraid of that dreadful rose, just substitute vanilla, or orange or even coffee. But I implore you, to please give rose a try. The world will sing your praises in a chorus of, "This is so good. What is that I'm tasting?", to which you will respond, "A good cook never gives away her secrets." OR just maybe, you can tell them where you found the recipe and direct them to my blog. I love new readers!
I will also tell you that this tart's crust is flaky and tender and as sweet as could be, when it comes to rolling her out. I admit to not being the best pastry maker, but this recipe makes it easy. I put it to good use in other ways and just set the rose flavoring aside on those occasions. Go ahead. After all, a rose is a rose until it becomes a tart!
Salted Honey Rose Tart - Adventures in Cooking
Serves 12 - this is one rich tart! Makes 1 10" tart
Time to Make: About 30 minutes active, 45 minutes baking
Ingredients:
Crust
2 ¼ c flour
2 T sugar
¼ t salt
1 c butter, chilled and cut into cubes
1 T rosewater
4-7 T of ice water (I put ice cubes in a glass of water)
Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter. The bigger the butter chunks, the more flakiness in your crust. Obviously, you don't want to leave them huge, but it is OK to see the butter when you roll it out. Now stir in the rosewater and slowly start adding one tablespoon of ice water while mixing. Use your hands to form this into a ball. I roll out on a floured piece of plastic wrap and also cover the dough with floured plastic wrap while I am rolling. Don't yell, but it works for me. Like I said, I am not an expert at pie dough. Roll it until it is a few inches bigger than your tart pan. Remove the top layer of plastic wrap and place the dough in the tart pan. Now peel off the bottom layer of wrap. Don't worry if the dough tears, it is easy to patch together. Chill in fridge, while making filling.
Filling Ingredients:
¾ c sugar
3 T cornmeal
¼ t salt
½ c melted butter
2 t rosewater
2 t white vinegar
¼ t salt
¾ c honey
3 eggs
½ c heavy cream
1-3 t of Himalayan fine pink salt, but others work well, too
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Combine sugar, cornmeal and melted butter in a medium sized bowl. Mix together rosewater, vinegar,salt and honey. Add to sugar mixture. Beat eggs with cream and blend well. No need to overdue it. Fold into the mixture. Pour into tart shell.
Bake for about 45 minutes. Cool for two hours at room temperature. Sprinkle top with salt. Serve! When you remove it from the oven the top should be set and not jiggly, though when you cut it, the inside will be rich and custardy.
Please note: This is best served on the day it is made.
Other good things to try:
Salted Butterscotch Chocolate Tart
Fudge Brownies with Cookie Dough Filling
Browned Butter Cream Cheese Rugelach
Lemon Rose Madeleines
Abbe Odenwalder says
Most definitely, Jess. It is a winner! Thanks!
Jess says
Oh this tart sounds so perfect! I will have to give it a go!
dentistvschef says
oww, i rally love any rose water dessert!
looks pretty delicious....
Abbe Odenwalder says
Rose water is getting to be a favorite of mine. Thanks Dede!
Carol at Wild Goose Tea says
Your post was delightfully written. The tart is red carpet quality. Scrumptious looking when analyzing whether one wants to taste it, but first my attention would be snared by it's elegant appearance. I appreciated your commentary about making the crust. I realize I have neither used or tasted rose water in a dish. I must remedy that. I am sure I will like it, because one I am enchanted by roses and I quite like the flavor of lavender in dishes.
Abbe@This is How I Cook says
i would think if you like lavender, you would like rose. Yes, I am good at commentary, but not so good at pie crust, which is why I love this!
SavoringTime in the Kitchen says
It is beautiful and looks delicious! I can't say I was impressed the first time I used rose water either but maybe I have to rethink that too.
Abbe Odenwalder says
Rethink it with this tart! Totally worthy! And if not, jut leave the rosewater out!
Kari Lindsay says
I love desserts flavored with rose, and I love this tart! Can't wait to make this!
Abbe Odenwalder says
Kari, it is one of the best I've made in a long time. Well, at least since I made it last year! Thanks.
Kiran @ KiranTarun.com says
Salted. Honey. Rose. Tart. My favorite flavors, all in one!
Abbe Odenwalder says
Oh, you are a wise girl! And thank you!
Angie Schneider says
Salted, sweet and flowery...what a combination! The tart looks heavenly, Abbe.
Abbe Odenwalder says
Definitely the salt sets this off! Who'd of thought?
Winnie says
Honey and rosewater - wowwwwwww!!
Unique and I love it.
It looks and sounds just wonderful
I'm saving the recipe, I must try it
G'mar Hattima Tova 🙂
Abbe Odenwalder says
Thanks Winnie! Perfect for the holiday! Shana tova!
Juliana says
This is such a nice tart Abbe...I absolutely love the idea of rosewater...
Thanks for the recipe...hope you are having a fabulous week 😀
Abbe Odenwalder says
Thanks Juliana! Give it a try sometime!
Guru Uru says
What a beautiful tart, I love rosewater it is one of the freshest ingredients I have ever used 😀
This recipe is on my list to try!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Abbe Odenwalder says
I hope you enjoy it as much as we did, Uru! It is awesome!
Sippity Sup says
I have some Hawaiian pink sea salt in the pantry. It always gets forgotten about. It would be nice to let it be the star of a lovely dessert. GREG
Abbe Odenwalder says
Perfect for this! It will shine!
Biz says
Where do you even buy rosewater Abbe? Looks delicious! I've actually never made a tart in my life - I am not much of a baker, but I may need to fix that!
Abbe Odenwalder says
Whole Foods or any Middle Eastern market will have it. I've even seen it in a few specialty liquor stores. Not that i go to those too often! LOL! This is a keeper, Biz!
Sue/the view from great island says
This is STUNNING. I love recipes that feature edible flowers, they are always so pretty. And I love Eva's blog, too, you did her proud!
Abbe Odenwalder says
Coming from you sue, this makes me smile! Thank you!
Anna and Liz Recipes says
This tart sounds lovely Abbe! We have been hearing a lot about rosewater lately, I guess we have to get some soon.
Abbe Odenwalder says
Rose water is definitely something fun to try as long as it is used sparingly! You will love this!
Sugar et al. says
This is a gorgeous tart! Rosewater is beautiful, together with salted honey..it must be out of the world!
Abbe Odenwalder says
Try it. I think you will like it! It really is one of those mesmerizing dishes!
Sowmya Sundararajan says
Lovely!
Abbe Odenwalder says
Thank you! 😉
Kitchen Riffs says
Salted honey? I'm in! I use orange blossom water all the time, rosewater not so much. I should change that, shouldn't I? Good stuff -- thanks.
Abbe Odenwalder says
Orange blossom would taste great, too! But try this! I think you will like it!
Karen Harris says
I tried rose Turkish delight many years ago and like you was totally put off by the perfumy flavor. Now you have me wondering if I need to revisit the flavor. This tart looks just wonderful. I might just have to give it a try.
Abbe Odenwalder says
I think you will be pleasantly surprised like I was!
Sharon D says
This is lovely! I like the thought of a rose tart. It's so romantic-like ❤ ❤
Abbe Odenwalder says
Serve it with champagne! In bed!
Liz Berg says
I've only started using rose flavorings in desserts this past year...thanks to Dorie Greenspan! It's especially lovely with strawberries, but now I need to try your tart!!!
Abbe Odenwalder says
I bet it is great with strawberries. I've used it in my raspberry rose jam and it is superb! Thanks, Liz!