Chocolate Tart

Ello! No I have not been neglecting you, I just didn't have the camera one week I cooked a lot and then I didn't cook much! However, here is the next in the birthday series, Chocolate Tart, from Deb of course. I must admit I was a tad skeptical, since I made a ton of the tart dough the previous week for a lemon tart and it was just too sweet, and a titch crunchy for my taste - I like em flaky and powdery. However, possibly because of the dark chocolate in the tart and the cup of sugar in the lemon tart, it worked fine.

My friend, whose birthday it was, not only acquired lindt dark chocolate, but also a vanilla bean! Oh my. So we made it. The dough was VERY difficult to manage, which deb warned about, but really it was a pain. The first time I did ok rolling it out inside a plastic bag, and it transferred fine. The second time however, I literally had to piece it together and pat it out inside the shell. Might use this dough next time. I also didn't realise how much it made, so I ended up with a LOT of dough, and turned the leftovers into cookies, which were DELICIOUS. Roll out, cut/shape. bake at 200C for 12-15 minutes. Could also make the filling and use as sandwich cookie filling.

I made the dough and baked it the night before, and the ganache in the morning, so it's actually quite easy to make in two stages. You can even make the dough ages in advance and freeze (which is actually what I ended up doing) and then it takes no time at all. Next time I probably will infuse the ganache with whiskey or brandy =D

For the tart shell (Use 1/2 to 1/3rd for one 9" tart, but it freezes well so you can mix up a batch and save it for later):

• 290g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1.5 cups (150g) confectioner's sugar
• 1/2 cup (70g) ground blanched almonds
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
• 2 eggs
• 3.5 cups (490g) flour

For the ganache filling:

• 2/3 cup cream
• 280g dark chocolate, chopped
• 1 vanilla bean
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tbs (30g) butter at room temperature

To make shell:

Beat butter till creamy, then start adding sugar slowly and keep beating till it is all incorporated and the mixture is smooth, and then add the almonds, salt and vanilla. Stir the yolks together in a bowl and add to the mixture till blended. Now start adding flour and mix with your fingers till it just comes together. Don't work it much, it is supposed to be soft. Refrigerate, wrapped in plastic, for few hours, 4 if you can, and 1 at least, before baking. It can also be wrapped in plastic and frozen for up to a month. Roll the dough out between plastic sheets, line your pan and prick all over with a fork. Put in freezer for 30 minutes. This might add time to your preparation, but TRUST me, it's worth it. Bake at 180C/350F for 20-25min, till its lightly browned. Take out and allow to come to room temperature before filling.

To make filling:

Beat 1tbs of cream with the yolks to mix them up. Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and keep ti ready. Bring the remaining cream to a boil, with the vanilla bean inside. Remove the bean and pour the hot cream over the chocolate, and wait 30 seconds before whisking gently to make sure it is smooth. Add the yolk-cream mixture followed by butter and whisk gently till mixed up. Pour into cooled tart shell and shape or shake or whatever makes your OCD behave. Deb says it will set outside the fridge, but it was 35C so I set it in the fridge, and took it out 20 minutes before serving. Worked just fine.

Devour