Kona Macadamia-Caramel Torte

Ingredients

• 0.5 lb butter cut in chunks
• 1 large eggs 
• 1 large egg white beaten
• 2.8 cups flour all-purpose
• 12.5 oz roasted salted
• 2.5 cups sugar 
• 1 cup whipping cream 

Equipment

• food processor
• frying pan
• oven
• knife
• cake form

Directions

1. Reserve 3 or 4 whole nuts for garnish. Rub remaining macadamias in a towel to remove excess salt; lift nuts from towel and set aside.
2. With your fingers or a food processor, mix or whirl flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and butter until mixture is fine crumbs.
3. Add egg and mix with a fork or whirl until dough holds together; pat into a ball.
4. Press 2/3 of the pastry over the bottom and sides of a 1 1/2-inch-deep, 9-inch-wide round cake pan with removable rim. Cover and chill.
5. Roll remaining pastry between 2 sheets of waxed paper into a 9-inch-wide round. Chill flat.
6. Meanwhile, pour remaining 2 cups sugar into a 10- to 12-inch nonstick frying pan. Set over medium-high heat and stir often until sugar melts and turns pale amber, about 7 minutes.
7. Pour in cream (mixture will bubble up) and remove from heat. Stir until sauce is smooth, about 5 minutes. Stir in nuts (except those reserved for garnish).
8. Let nut mixture cool 10 to 20 minutes, then pour into pastry shell.
9. Peel 1 sheet of waxed paper from pastry round and invert pastry onto nut-filled torte. Peel off remaining paper. Fold edges of top pastry in until flush with pan rim. Press pastry rim with the flour-dipped tines of a fork to seal.
10. Brush top of torte lightly with beaten egg white.
11. Bake in a 325 oven until deep golden brown, about 1 hour.
12. Cool in pan on a rack 10 to 20 minutes. Run a thin knife between pastry and pan rim.
13. Remove rim and let torte cool.
14. Garnish with reserved macadamia nuts.
15. Cut into thin wedges.