This morning, I made a chocolate tart. It was chaotic. I made a massive mess in the kitchen, and I have yet to clean it up. It was stressful. But it turned out all right!! I'd say, actually, the biggest problem I have is the richness and bitterness of the chocolate. I used 170g of 90% cocoa dark chocolate, and I should have used a less strong chocolate, as, although I ate half a slice around 30 mins ago, I still feel the bitter taste of the chocolate in my mouth!! (Even after drinking two glasses of water and eating blueberries).
Anyway, it was a disaster from the get-go. Here's the recipe I used: https://sundaybaker.co/tarte-au-chocolat/
(No shade to them- I think it's a great recipe- just would have been great it they had specified the percentage of cocoa needed in the chocolate bar- they may have- but I didn't spot it).
So, I decided to not take out the pre-made shortcrust pastry from the freezer and into the fridge the night before to let it de-frost, because last time I had done that, the pastry was too soft, and stuck, so I couldn't work with or shape my Palmiers. (I realise I could have used flour, but didn't want to change the taste of it or whatever).
So, the recipe requires one to bake the tart shell first. I, of course, could not do that, as it broke when I tried to unravel the roll.
I thought I'd make the filling, and by the time that was done, the pastry would be defrosted (obviously didn't work out).
I ended up making the filling- the single cream curdled majorly at the bottom- I looked it up- and apparently single cream curdles when you boil it, which is what the recipe required me to do. Single cream also doesn't whip (glad I checked that one out after whipping the leftovers for 30 mins :))
Apart from the cream curdling so that the bottom half of my custard looked like a large pile of scrambled eggs at the bottom of my pan, it went ok. It meant that I obviously didn't use that part when pouring into my melted chocolate, meaning I had 40% less custard than I needed- great!
I also forgot to put my vanilla bean paste into it- great! I knew that would happen!
I ended up microwaving my pastry for a couple of minutes till I could handle it, so I could have just done that before I made the filling.When I baked the pastry shell, I lined it with tin foil, and poured rice inside it, like the recipe told me. Then, after around 15 mins, I took out the tin foil and rice, like the recipe stated. I also brushed the inside with egg white with my fingers. I accidentally poured the whole egg white inside, then spent ages trying to get it out and eventually had to tip the shell and pour the egg out.
And GUESS WHAT HAPPENED- the pastry case started to inflate and puff up big time. That was not supposed to happen!!! The whole point of my putting the rice in was for it not to rise. I don't know why it did that. So I baked it for another 20 mins in the oven, because I did not want the pastry to be raw.
Then I filled up the puffed up pastry shell with its majorly shrunken sides with the filling missing vanilla bean paste. The filling was VERY thick- not liquidy at all like it was supposed to be !! I put it in the oven and one edge turned black- oops. I think I shouldn't have put it in the oven to bake.
The top of my tart looked VERY oily. I put a piece of paper, and sure enough, the whole sheet turned opaque and soggy with grease. I put on another piece of tissue, and that also turned opaque. So nice- a nice greasy tart.
Then, my mum had previously told my dad to buy some fruit- that was my life saver. I managed to nicely decorate it with fruit, after whipping the cream-that-won't-whip.
And- VOILA. The tart was made. I sprinkled a touch of icing sugar on top too.
Time to try- well- it cut nicely, and I forgot to mention it came out of the dish beautifully.
And so, as I said, it was good - the pastry was uneven on the bottom but well cooked through. The biggest problem was that it was extremely rich and bitter- I really don't know if I will eat more of it. Oops. I hope it won't be wasted. My dad enjoyed it, but he doesn't eat dessert, and my mum doesn't like chocolaty desserts. Maybe my sister will have some.
So yeah- One day, I may make this again, making all the necessary adjustments and I truly think this has the potential to be delicious!!
It goes amazingly with fresh fruit- they provide a juicy tartness which lifts up this tart. I ended up eating the fruit off the second tart slice. And cream goes well with this too on the side. (Though if you want whipped cream- buy double cream and whip that).
Right- now time to start on my History PI! (I hope)
Oh, and moral of the story (sort of)- don't worry about tiny things- they usually end up being unimportant:)
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