Thursday, January 03, 2008

Chocolate Tart With Tangerine Sauce And Candied Peel




I was halfway through this recipe when I realised it was too elaborate for something that didn't need to be. That said, it was delicious, but probably fussier than it should have been. I would not recommend the crust recipe I used. While the cocoa powder in the dough was nice, the rest of the crust was silly (confectioner's sugar in a tart shell?). The result was a very soft shell that crumbled a bit and really wasn't worth the bother. I would stick with whatever crust you typically use for a tart and add in 1/8 cup of powdered cocoa. It didn't detract from the tart, but it did suck a tremendous amount of my time for something that wasn't that special.

Instead, I'll post the recipe for the sauce and filling and leave the tart pastry to your choice.

The tar may be served still slightly warm, as it is a gooey sort of dessert. I made some candied orange peel to decorate it which was more work than I should have put myself through today, but they payoff is that tomorrow, I'm going to dip the remaining ones in chocolate. Then, I'm going to sit on my big butt all weekend reading Derrida and eating candied peel. Wait..I meant reading People Magazine…sorry, sometimes I get confused.

You Will Need:

For The Tangerine Sauce:

3 cups tangerine juice, strained (yes, it is quite a bit of juicing if you use a little wooden reamer, but fresh really is better)
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons granulated sugar

In a medium saucepan, heat the juice over moderate heat (watch that it does not foam over) until it reduces to ¾ cup (about half an hour). You will need to skim periodically). Remove from heat and stir in the sugar. Cool and chill in fridge.

Prepare Tart shell to the partially cooked stage. Remove from oven and cool completely.

For the filling:

6 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
2 large eggs
¼ cup sugar

Melt the butter and chocolate together. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Whisk eggs with sugar and slowly add the chocolate/butter mixture. Pour in partially baked tart shell and bake in a pre-heated 350-degree oven for 20 minutes or until the filling is just firm and the tart begins to puff. Cool on rack out of pan, but serve while still slightly warm. Top with powdered sugar and candied peel. Serve with tangerine sauce on plate.

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