baking therapy: chocolate ganache tart

Another week full of coworker birthdays! Why so many birthdays? Well, as my coworker Noah pointed out, this week is 9 months after Valentine’s Day. 😉

I always ask the birthday boy or girl if they have any allergies (I don’t want to kill anyone on their birthday) and Joel replied, “I’m allergic to anything that’s not sweet, fattening or chocolate”.  Sounds good to me!

I decided to make a chocolate ganache tart because it looked so pretty and fancy in the picture, but the recipe was super simple.

Chocolate Ganache Tart, from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food
3 tablespoons slivered blanched almonds
6 tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 cups (spooned and leveled) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons grated orange or lemon zest (I did lemon)
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make dough: In a food processor, pulse almonds until finely ground. Add sugar, flour, zest (if desired), and salt; pulse until combined. Add butter, pulsing until coarse crumbs form with no large butter lumps. I don’t have a food processor, so I grated the butter on the cheese grater and cut it in with 2 knives.

Immediately transfer dough to a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Using a measuring cup, evenly press dough in bottom and up sides of pan.

Bake in center of oven until golden brown and firm to the touch, about 20 minutes. (At 20 minutes, my crust was still really soft so I let it go longer, but upon eating the next day it seemed too crunchy). Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, about 1 hour.

Make ganache: Place chocolate in a large mixing bowl. In a small saucepan, heat cream until just about to boil. Pour hot cream, through a sieve, over chocolate. Stir until smooth and creamy in texture. Mix in vanilla. (As we learned in the chocolate mousse adventure, be careful not to torture the chocolate).

Pour chocolate mixture into center of cooled tart shell. Let stand until set, about 2 hours, or chill for 1 hour.

I served it with fresh raspberries.

Conclusions: It was rich, chocolatey and decadent. The acidity of the berries was a perfect accompaniment. I wasn’t thrilled with the crunchiness of the crust and may try a different crust recipe next time. The coworkers all really enjoyed it and I’m pretty sure I saw someone go in for thirds.

-Emily