A Silken Chocolate Tart, Dessert Recipe #2

My second attempt at making dessert from scratch was a success. Success isn’t the word, actually, it was more like… bliss. Chocolately, decadent, creamy, sweet-with-a-twinge-of-salty, perfectly-sliceable and buttery, flaky bliss. The end result of a somewhat time-consuming yet simple recipe tasted and looked like a dessert I never thought I could make. In fact, it tasted even better because I did make it. That is the beauty of pushing your cooking boundaries.

The recipe came from a cookbook I received as a wedding gift called The Bride & Groom First and Forever Cookbook by Mary Corpening Barber and Sara Corpening Whiteford. I’ve used this cookbook for many other recipes but I’ve always avoided the dessert section, particularly anything dealing with a “crust” or “crust-like” feature. Now don’t get me wrong, I like crust, especially pizza crust… but making a pie crust has always intimidated me. It just seemed so involved, fragile and frankly, like a pain in the ass. And since pie (and pastries for that matter) are down on the list of favorite sweet things for me, I’ve just always kept the book closed on crust… until now. Recently, while poking around in my local Williams-Sonoma store, I spotted a tart pan and decided it was time to face my fear.

I chose to make a tart over a pie for two reasons: 1) I like the word tart better and 2) I think they are prettier than pies. It’s as simple as that. The truth is, I didn’t even really know what the difference was between the two except for a different type of pan which allows a tart’s crust to be exposed in all its fluted glory. Turns out this is the main difference, yaay me.

So a chocolate tart was the way to go for obvious reasons. The entire process went smoothly except for a few moments when placing the dough into the tart pan. There was thinning, and tearing and… I started to breathe heavy. But alas, I found that you could just smoosh it all together and who would know? With a little artistic touch, everything began to look very professional. I also learned about blind-baking, tenderly folding chocolate into warmed, heavy cream and eggs and finally… whipped cream with liqueur.

Can anyone tell me why I have not made homemade, fresh, whipped cream before? The stuff can be eaten on its own by the spoonful, it is so delicious, and when topped off with a dash of Kaluha or Grand Marnier… heaven help you.

Anyway, I put everything together, let the tart cool and around 9pm on a Sunday evening dove into a dessert completely worth waiting for. I smiled, my husband smiled and it was a very quiet several minutes.

Next stop: Coconut Custard!

Silken Chocolate Tart
serves 8

1 Recipe flaky pie crust of your choice or 1 frozen pastry circle or sheet for 9″ tart pan
1 cup heavy cream
8 oz high quality semi-sweet chocolate roughly chopped
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp kosher salt
2 eggs at room temperature, lightly beaten

Whipped Cream
1 cup heavy cream
2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp liqueur of choice, plus more if desired
cocoa powder for dusting

To make the tart, position rack in center of oven. If using homemade pie crust, bake it blind as directed. If using frozen pastry circle or sheet, let thaw slightly and mold into 9″ tart pan. Prebake as directed and transfer to a wire rack for cooling.

Adjust oven to 350 degrees.

Bring cream to simmer in sauce pan over medium heat. (Not too hot or you’ll curdle!) Remove from heat and whisk in chocolate until smooth. Add vanilla and kosher salt until incorporated. Let cool. Whisk in eggs until it looks silken and delicious. Pour into tart shell while resisting putting your tongue under the flow. Bake until middle trembles with delight when shaken, about 20-25 min. Transfer to wire rack and cool at least 30 min before serving.

Just before serving, make the whipped cream. Combine the cream, sugar and liqueur in your good ol’ Kitcheaid stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on high speed until soft peaks form, about 1 minute. The cream should slowly fall forward when whisk is lifted. Alternatively, a hand mixer will work just as well. Add more liqueur if you want to and you know you do. I used Kaluha.

Recipe adapted from Bride & Groom First and Forever Cookbook