Dark Chocolate Tart

Random fact about me: I haven't always been a fan of cake. 🍰 As a child, my irrational dislike of cake actually prompted me to make some pretty strange birthday dessert requests in lieu of a traditional birthday cake.  And my rock star of a mom indulged me every year and produced elegant displays of  donuts with candles, fruit pies and bowls of colorfully sprinkled ice cream.  🍨  I'm thankful for a mom who never questioned my food choices and threw me plenty of cake-less birthday parties as a child.  (Yes, I was that kid. 😅)

​We celebrated 3 family birthdays last week - my mother in law, my first born and his wonderful wife.  That's 3 reasons to celebrate and three good excuses to eat birthday dessert. 😅  Even though I couldn't be with my son and daughter in law to celebrate their birthdays in person, that didn't stop me from eating commemorative birthday dessert. 🥮  Is commemorative dessert a thing or just an excuse to eat dessert? 😂

As I've gotten older, I've actually developed an appreciation for cake - especially as a means of celebration. 🎂 I can't help but think that my late in life cake affection stems from the fact that a significant part of my current career involves making cakes to commemorate significant moments in other peoples lives.  I could argue that I owe the success of my catering business to cake.  Back in 2016, I started baking cupcakes for a local coffee shop, and I quickly became known to many around town as the "cupcake lady".  🧁  It was all cakes and cookies from there.  
 
To celebrate my mother in laws birthday last week - I threw it back into my non-traditional birthday ​dessert roots and made a Dark Chocolate Tart.  Yes, I'm the girl who likes to show up to the party with an unexpected dessert.  (One year, I made glow in the dark jello squares for my daughter's school dance. 🤷🏻‍♀️ 🤣)  Wonderful, unpredictable, stunning desserts are the perfect way to celebrate any occasion. 

Dark Chocolate Tart
Pate Sucree
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 Tablespoons butter, melted and hot

Tart
1 cup half and half
4 egg yolks
1 Tablespoons cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
12 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
10 Tablespoons butter, melted

Whisk together egg and vanilla for pate sucree.   

Pulse flour, sugar and salt in food processor.  Add butter.

With processor running, add egg and process until dough forms.  

Place dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper.  Roll to 18x12".  

Transfer dough and parchment to a baking sheet and freeze 30 minutes.  

Transfer dough to counter.  Peel away parchment.  

Press tart pan into dough to cut circle.  

Cut remaining dough into 1" strips.  

Fit round dough into tart pan bottom.  

Fit strips of dough around edges of pan.

Freeze tart shell 20 minutes.  

Spray a sheet of foil with cooking spray.  Place greased side down on tart.  

Fill with pie weights. (or coins) 

Bake 30 minutes at 350.  Remove foil and weights and bake another 10 minutes.  Cool. ​

Whisk together half and half, egg yolks and cocoa in saucepan.  

Cook, stirring constantly, until 170-175 degrees.  

Remove from heat and whisk in chocolate and vanilla.  

Whisk in buttter.  

Pour into a strainer and into cooled tart shell.  Let cool 20 minutes.  ​

Cover with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate 2-24 hours.  ​

Top with whipped cream.

Garnish with fresh fruit if desired.  

Happiest of birthdays Judy, Ryan and Holly - love you all.  

Ciao!

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