Strawberry Chocolate Tart

Memorial Day.

Requires a spectacular dessert. Ideally, to go with a spectacular BBQ.

Short of making two desserts, what do you do when two adults require chocolate in the dessert, and two adults require chocolate-less dessert?

You make this:

Slightly burned crust, not a great picture, but you need to see the whole thing.
And someday soon I will have a real tart pan.

A strawberry chocolate tart, with chocolate on only half of the tart.

Brilliant, no?

You may think that the ganache drizzle is not enough chocolate. But there is a secret layer of ganache between the crust and the tart filling.

Awesome indeed.

Strawberry Chocolate Tart


Ingredients:

For the crust:
1 large egg yolk
1 TB heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp salt
8 TB cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes

For the ganache:
2 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 TB unsalted butter, at room temperature

For the filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 TB milk or cream

For topping:
Fresh strawberries, sliced
Melted bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, for drizzling (optional...but not really)


Directions:

To make the tart crust:
Whisk together the egg yolk, cream and vanilla in a small bowl and set aside.

Place the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor. Process briefly to combine.

Scatter the butter pieces over the flour mixture and process to cut the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about fifteen 1-second pulses.

With the machine running, add the egg mixture and process until the dough just comes together, about 12 seconds.

Turn the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and press into a 6-inch disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 48 hours.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator. (If refrigerated for more than an hour, let stand at room temperature until malleable.) Unwrap and roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to a 13-inch round.

Transfer the dough to a 9-inch tart pan. (You can use a pie pan if you must, and I must). Mold the dough to the sides of the tart pan and remove the excess off the top. Set the dough-lined tart pan on a large plate and freeze for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, adjust an oven rack to middle position. Preheat the oven to 375° F.

Set the dough-lined tart pan on a baking sheet, press a 12-inch square of foil into the frozen shell and over the edge, and fill with pie weights.

Bake for 30 minutes, rotating halfway through the baking time.

Remove from the oven and carefully remove the foil and weights. Continue to bake until deep golden brown, 5-8 minutes longer.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

To make the ganache:
Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl.

Bring the cream to a simmer in a small saucepan.

Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate. Let sit 3 minutes to melt the chocolate.

Whisk together until a smooth ganache forms. If there are still bits of unmelted chocolate, microwave in 10 second intervals, whisking in between, until the ganache is completely smooth.

Whisk in the butter.

Spread the ganache in a thin even layer over the bottom of the cooled tart shell. Place the pan in the fridge or freezer and allow the ganache to set up.

To make the filling:
Beat together the cream cheese and powdered sugar in a bowl on medium-high speed until smooth. Blend in the vanilla and milk or cream. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the cooled ganache in the tart shell.

Adding the strawberries:
Starting from the outside and working toward the center, place the sliced strawberries in concentric circles slightly overlapping each other. Gently press the berries into the cream cheese mixture to help keep them in place. Drizzle with melted chocolate, if desired. Chill until ready to serve.

Adapted from Annie's Eats:
Strawberry Cream Cheese Tart