TWD ~ Chocolate Cream Tart

Shesh, has another week gone by already? Some weeks I’m not all that jazzed about the TWD selection, sometimes I’m in excitement mode, and then there are weeks where I’m neither jazzed nor excited. This week initially started out jazzed, then turned lukewarm. When I initially heard the title, “Chocolate Cream Tart” (selected by Kim of Scrumptious Photography) I got excited because who doesn’t get excited when they hear the word, “chocolate”. Then I looked at what was entailed, don’t ask me why, but the technique seemed like a bit of a let down. I have no idea what I expected when I heard “Chocolate Cream Tart”, but I do know it didn’t involve what sounded like a glorified chocolate pudding thrown in a tart shell. Well, sometimes it’s good to have low expectations, or none really to speak of. This was PHENOMENAL!  

Seriously, this was hella good. I did use some of Dorie’s playing around options, hence the inclusion of the recipe since it’s not exactly to speck in the book. I decided to go with using a layer of coconut cream, but I didn’t make a pie. The combination of chocolate and coconut…oh…my….god….a, yum. And considering the fact that I’ve been trying to use up the old Ghirardelli that I’ve had lying around and it still tasted great, well, this recipe is a definite keeper. I know some of you out there love Ghirardelli, but after having some Scharffen Berger…. I just don’t want to go back, but granted, it costs a HECK of a lot more. For now I’ve got a five pound bag waiting for me. When I run out of that I’ll worry about the cost of procuring some more.

Please, please do try this recipe. One thing though, don’t change a damn thing here. I know you may see some other successful experiments across the TWD universe that don’t include all the elements I have here, but really give it a try with the chocolate, coconut, and whipped cream. Oh, and don’t forget the toasted coconut!

Chocolate Cream Tart

As a plan of attack, I’d start off with the tart dough, move on to the chocolate cream, the coconut cream, and then the toasted coconut. I wouldn’t make the whipped cream topping until right before you’re ready to assemble.

Chocolate Shortbread Tart Dough:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cake flour (if you don’t have cake flour, just use all-purpose flour)
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick plus 1 tablespoon (9 tablespoons) very cold (or frozen) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg yolk

A couple of caveats, I don’t have a food processor so I tend to over mix things. I needed something to offset the over mixing and make it more tender, hence the cake flour. If you have a food processor you probably won’t need to use the cake flour, so just use all-purpose flour for the entire amount.

Butter a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom.

Put the flour, cocoa, confectioners’ sugar and salt in a mixing bowl and using a whisk sift the mixture together until blended (or if using a food processor: pulse a couple of times to combine). Scatter the pieces of butter over the dry ingredients and using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the dry ingredients (or if using a food processor: pulse until the butter is coarsely cut in) — you should have pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and some the size of peas. Stir the yolk, just to break it up, and cut this into the dough (or if using a food processor: add it a little at a time, pulsing after each addition). When the egg is in, continue to cut the yolk into the dough — until the dough comes together, forms clumps and curds (or if using a food processor: process in long pulses — about 10 seconds each. Just before you reach this stage, the sound of the machine working the dough will change — heads up.).  Those of you who are using their trusty pastry blender should realize that this step will take some time. Initially it will look like nothing is happening and that you don’t have enough liquid for the dough to come together…keep mixing! Eventually you’ll get a nice moist dough. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and very lightly and sparingly knead the dough just to incorporate any dry ingredients that might have escaped mixing.

Press the dough into the buttered pan. Press evenly over the bottom and up the sides, using all but one little piece of dough, which you should save in the refrigerator to patch any cracks after the crust is baked. Dorie says, “Don’t be too heavy-handed — press the crust in so that the edges of the pieces cling to one another, but no so hard that the crust loses its crumbly texture.” I’m heavy-handed, another reason for using the cake flour to tenderize. Even though I suck at rolling out dough, I suck at this “press the dough into pan” method more. Maybe someday I’ll get the hang of it. I wish I had some words of wisdom for how NOT to have an uneven tart crust, but I don’t….good luck. Freeze for at least 30 minutes, preferably longer, before baking.

To partially or fully bake the crust:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375° Fahrenheit (190° Celsius, Gas Mark 5).

Butter the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil and fit the foil, buttered side down, tightly against the crust. (Since you froze the crust, you can bake it without weights.) Put the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake the crust for 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil. If the crust has puffed, press it down gently with the back of a spoon. For a partially baked crust, patch the crust as necessary, then transfer the crust to a cooling rack (keep it in its pan).

To fully bake the crust:
Bake for another 8 minutes or so, or until it is firm and golden brown. Keep a close eye on the crust’s progress — it can get too dark in a flash. Transfer the tart pan to a rack and cool the crust to room temperature before filling.

To patch a partially or fully baked crust, if necessary:
If there are any cracks in the baked crust, patch them with some of the reserved raw dough as soon as you remove the foil. Slice off a thin piece of the dough, place it over the crack, moisten the edges and very gently smooth the edges into the baked crust. If the tart will not be baked again with its filling, bake for another 2 minutes or so, just to take the rawness off the patch.

Chocolate cream:

2 cups whole milk
4 large egg yolks
6 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch, sifted
1/4 teaspoon salt
7ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces, at room temperature

Bring the milk to a boil.

Dorie suggests using another saucepan for this next step, but I used a stainless steel mixing bowl. One way or another you’ll have two things to wash, but I have more mixing bowls than pots, so bowl it is. If you want to see the original instructions please view this Scrumptious Photography’s blog.  Meanwhile, in a medium stainless steel bowl, whisk the yolks together with the sugar, cornstarch and salt until well-blended and thick. Whisking without stopping, drizzle in about 1/2 cup of the hot milk — this will temper, or warm, the yolks so they don’t curdle — then, while whisking, add the tempered yolk mixture back to the pan that has the remainder of the milk in a steady stream. Put the pan over medium heat and, whisking constantly (make sure to get in the edges of the pan), bring the mixture to a boil. Keep at a boil, still whisking, for 1 to 2 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat.

Whisk in the melted chocolate. Let sit for 5 minutes, then whisk in the bits of butter, stirring until they are fully incorporated and the custard is smooth and silky. You can press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the custard to create an airtight seal and refrigerate the custard or, if you want to cool the custard quickly, put the bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice cubes and cold water and stir the custard occasionally until it is fully chilled, about 20 minutes. (If it’s more convenient, you can keep the custard, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.)

Coconut cream:

1 1/3 cup heavy cream
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Put the heavy cream and coconut in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring almost constantly. Continue to cook and stir until the cream is reduced by half and the mixture is slightly thickened.

Once I finished this procedure I found the coconut to be a bit too….stringy? Stringy, chunky…it was too much of a texture that didn’t seem appropriate for a cream tart. If you have the same reaction, through the mixture into a blender or food processor and run it until the mix has reached your desired consistency. I wanted it to have as little texture as possible, so I kept checking my blender for about a minute…it’s up to you.

Scrape the coconut cream into a bowl and cool to room temperature.

Toasted coconut:

about 1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 325F. Spread the coconut out over a parchment lined pan. Bake for 5 to 10 minutes or until lightly tinged with gold (or forget to take it out of the oven after your timer goes off and have it get totally tinged with gold like I did).

Whipped cream:

1 cup cold heavy cream
4 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Working with a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the cream until it just starts to thicken. Beat in the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla and continue to beat until the cream holds firm peaks.

When you are ready to assemble the tart, spread the coconut cream in an even layer over the bottom of the crust. Whisk the chocolate cream vigorously to loosen it and to bring back its velvety texture. Spoon the cream into the tart shell, stopping just short of the crust’s rim (you may have some left over) — you want to leave room for the topping. Smooth the top and, if you are not serving the tart immediately, press a piece of plastic wrap against the cream and refrigerate the tart until needed (or up to 6 hours).

You can decide how elaborate you want to make this tart. You can either spread the whipped cream over the tart and smooth it with a metal icing spatula or, if you prefer swirls, go for them. I actually filled a piping bag with a star tip and piped little stars across the top. It’s up to you.

Serve the tart now or refrigerate it for up to 2 hours before serving. When you are ready to serve the tart, scatter the toasted coconut over the top.

Tagged as: Chocolate, Coconut, Cream, Recipe!, TWD