I was playing with puff pastry when inspiration hit. A chocolate covered strawberry tart! Being the compulsive that I am, over a week ago I went and picked up everything needed for the tart.
Then inspiration left, the fickle bitch that she is, and being the procrastinator that I am, the strawberries sat in the fridge – perfectly good strawberries no longer picture perfect – turned into a strawberry jam/sauce of sorts on Friday. So I headed back to the store on Friday and came home with two more quarts of strawberries to create this tart and to make chocolate covered strawberries for the emergency hospital who took final care of Snowball (our American Eskimo) who left us last Saturday.
The first picture above is a chocolate tart, the picture below is a tart with a layer of fresh strawberry jam/sauce covered by a layer of chocolate ganache – the strawberry addition cuts through the richness of the tart. Here is a tutorial from The Kitchn on all things you need to know about ganache if you have never made it before.
I made a rough puff pastry dough for the tart above but the tart below was made with a store part pastry dough and is just as delicious.
I hope you try it.
Ingredients
- Strawberry Jam
- 2 quarts of strawberries, cored and cut in half
- 1/2 cup of sugar
- Juice of one orange
- Zest of one orange
- Chocolate Tart
- 1 thawed good quality puff pastry dough
- 1 egg, beaten for egg wash
- 1 cup of the strawberry jam above (or good quality jam)
- 1 pound of good quality chocolate, chopped
- 1 cup of heavy cream
- 1/2 teaspoon of espresso powder
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
For the strawberry jam, combine all ingredients in medium sized heavy bottomed sauce pan. Turn heat to medium, stir ingredients once and let mixture come to a simmer. The strawberries will start to break down after about 20 to 30 minutes. If the strawberry mixture is too thin - continue to cook on high simmer until sauce thickens. When the mixture is at the right consistency for your use. Turn off heat. Allow to cool a few minutes. Use an immersion blender or a masher to break down the strawberries even further. Place mixture in jar and refrigerate once cooled.
For the tart.
Preheat oven to 375.
Roll out the puff pastry slightly. I used a round 9 inch tart for the first tart and then a rectangular pan for the second. Choose which tart pan you wish - and place the dough in the pan, gently fitting it to the sides, Cut off any excess. Using a fork, dock the dough and then apply an egg wash over the dough. Bake for roughly 25 to 30 minutes, checking after 15 minutes. It will rise and you can use the fork to release some air if needed. After the dough is golden brown --- remove from oven. Allow to cool for five minutes and then press gently down any risen area. Set aside to cool.
Remove the strawberry jam from the fridge to bring to room temperature.
For the ganache, place the chocolate into a bowl with espresso powder. In a heavy bottom sauce pan, bring cream to a simmer. Carefully, pour the simmered cream over the chocolate, allow it to sit one minute and then stir the mixture until smooth.
Once the tart crust has cooled, spread roughly a half cup to a cup of the strawberry jam on the crust. Then carefully spread the ganache on top of the strawberry layer - spread out evenly with an off-set spatula. Allow to set up.
Garnish with chocolate covered strawberries and shaved white chocolate.
Refrigerate the tart until ready to serve.
http://thecookbookjunkies.com/chocolate-covered-strawberry-tart/
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