What's Up Cupcake?: tart

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Savory Sunday: Blackberry Goat Cheese Tart

Day two of the weekend of tarts! This time we're going savory with a hint of sweet. It's a goat cheese tart topped with blackberries and a bit of honey. This would be perfect for a brunch or tea. Not sure about goat cheese? The tart basically tastes like a mild cheesecake with a perfect sweetness added from the berries and honey.

Again, still working with my mini-prep food processor, so I used my stand mixer. I think you could also use a hand mixer to get the same results, but make sure your ingredients are at room temperature.

One tool you will need is a tart pan with a removable bottom. I picked up a 9" round tart pan that fit the ingredients perfectly. There was a little leftover dough that could be used for a mini tart or two, but you will need additional filling if you decide to use it.

Blackberry Goat Cheese Tart
Recipe from Blondies Cakes

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Ingredients for the crust:
1 cup all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
7 tbsp butter, room temperature
3 oz cream cheese, room temperature

Ingredients for the filling:
6 oz goat cheese
4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
2 eggs
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp fresh thyme
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Ingredients for the topping:
approx. 12 oz blackberries
2 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp thyme leaves

Directions for the crust:
1. Combine all crust ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix until the dough is well blended. Turn out onto saran wrap and form into a flat disk. Wrap up and refrigerate for a couple of hours so that the dough firms up enough to roll out properly.

2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place dough disk onto a floured surface. Roll out using short strokes from the center outward until the dough is a couple of inches larger than your tart pan (about a 12" circle for 9.5" tart pan). You should not need to grease your tart pan. Gently place the dough into the tart pan. The easiest way that I found to transfer the dough was to roll it onto my rolling pin and then unroll it over the pan. Gentle ease the dough into the pan filling out the edges and lightly pressing into the ridges. Remove the extra trim from the sides of the pan - you can use them for additional tarts or toss it. I rolled the pin over the top of the sides to make it easy to peel the top right off. Place the dough into the freezer while you prepare the filling.

Directions for the filling:
1. Combine the filling ingredients into bowl and beat until the mixture is smooth and blended. Pour into the pan, smooth the top and bake for 25 to 35 minutes. Once the top is puffy and golden, remove from the oven and allow to cool.

2. Refrigerate the tart to cool completely, then top with the berries. Drizzle honey over the top and sprinkle with thyme leaves.

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Saturday, May 19, 2012

Sweet Treats Saturday: Salted Chocolate Tart

This weekend, I give you... tarts!

I was in the mood to try something new and I was meeting up with some girlfriends for a knitting afternoon. I volunteered to make dessert... but after seeing a goat cheese and apricot tart at my local gourmet deli, I decided I wanted to try my hand at a savory tart myself. Mainly because their version was $20, but also because I had never worked with tarts before. This started a whole theme and I had to do a bit of shopping.

I found dozens of recipes of both the sweet and savory variety but settled on one of each. Tomorrow, stick around for a blackberry and goat cheese tart. For now, I leave you with the ultimate chocolate treat. If you're a sucker for dark chocolate, then make this tart.

To make tarts, you need... a tart pan. Seems obvious, but there are some things that make these extremely useful. The main selling point is the removable bottom. This makes it so easy to pop the tart out of the pan. You could also use this pan to make quiche. There you go - sold! Well, after you check out these two recipes, hopefully you will be too. I made both of these tarts in one night, and finished them off the following morning (final toppings, decoration, etc). You could do it all at once, but it left me the right amount of time to cool everything completely before I moved on to next steps.

Alright, enough chit chat - on to the recipe!

Salted Chocolate Tart
Recipe from My Recipes

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Ingredients for the crust:
6 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
5 large egg yolks

Ingredients for the filling:
8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup coffee
4 large eggs

Ingredients for the topping:
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 tbsp light corn syrup
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
sea salt for sprinkling

Directions for the crust:
1. In a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until smooth. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and cocoa powder, then add to the butter mixture and mix until combined. Add yolks and mix on low speed just until dough comes together. Form the dough into a flat disk and wrap in saran wrap. Chill for at least one hour or up to 3 days.

2. After chilled, unwrap the dough and place on a floured surface. With short strokes from the center outward, roll out the dough until a 12" circle is formed. Transfer the dough to the tart pan - this may be easier if you roll the dough onto your rolling pin and unroll it onto the tart pan. Gently press the dough into the pan and trim the edges so that it doesn't overhang from the edges. Place a piece of parchment paper in the pan and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes.

3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Once the crust is chilled, bake for 10 minutes. Then, remove the parchment and beans and return to the oven until the crust looks dry - approx. 5 minutes. Remove and set on a rack to cool slightly.

Directions for the filling:
1. Put the chopped chocolate in a medium-size heatproof bowl. In a medium saucepan, combine butter, sugar and coffee. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Pour the hot mixture over the chocolate and let it sit for 3 to 4 minutes, then gently stir until smooth. Break eggs into a large bowl and slowly pour into the warm chocolate mixture, stirring constantly until incorporated.

2. Pour the warm filling into the warm tart crust. Bake until the filling has risen slightly, appears dry on the surface and doesn't jiggle when shaken slightly. This will be between 10 and 15 minutes. Set on a rack to cool completely.

Directions for the topping:
1. Put the chopped chocolate and corn syrup into a medium-size heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan, heat the cream to boiling, then pour over the chocolate. Add the butter and stir slowly to reduce bubbles. Stir until smooth.

2. Pour the glaze onto the center of the tart and gently push to the edges. Let sit at least 15 minutes to set before slicing. Sprinkle with sea salt. Enjoy!