Day 31: Chocolate Truffle Tart

I figured I would conclude my 31 series with a delectable dessert that is truly perfect for any season of the year, but it would make a nice completion to a fall flavored dinner.  If you enjoy eating truffles, then you will like this; it's basically a huge truffle with a chocolate tart crust.

When I'm planning meals for entertaining I usually try to choose at least one element of the meal to be a bit more difficult to make or at least something that isn't normally on my meal plan.  The first time I made this dessert I served it after serving homemade pizzas.  The pizza was easy, but the dessert took a bit more time and some ingredients I didn't normally have on hand, so it worked well for me.  As you're planning your holiday entertaining menus, this might be a good way to incorporate new dishes into your already tried and true favorites.

The original recipe for this calls for two types of chocolate:  hazelnut and bittersweet or semisweet.  I used milk chocolate and semisweet, but you could use any two types of chocolate for this, so be creative!  Just be sure that you at least use some kind of sweet chocolate so that you don't end up with a bitter dessert.

Chocolate Truffle Tart (or the name on the recipe Torta Galosa)
Printable Version

crust
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
2 large egg yolks
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

filling
7 ounces milk chocolate chips
7 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup whipping cream

For Crust: 
In an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar in medium bowl.  Beat in egg yolks.  Add flour and cocoa.  Mix just until combined.  Form dough into ball; flatten into disk.  Wrap in plastic; chill 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350F.  Roll out dough on floured surface to 11-inch round (or 13-inch if using an 11-inch tart pan).  Transfer to 9-inch (or 11-inch) tart pan with removable bottom.

Fold in overhang; press to form double-thick sides.

Line crust with foil; fill with dried beans or pie weights (I used barley).

 Bake until edges are set, about 20 minutes. Remove foil and beans.  Bake until firm, about 10 minutes longer; cool.

For Filling:
Place chocolate in medium bowl.

Bring cream to boil in small saucepan.  Pour hot cream over chocolate; whisk until smooth.

don't worry that it's runny; it hardens in the fridge

Cool slightly.  Pour chocolate mixture into cooled crust.

it will be shiny 

Cover and chill at least 3 hours and up to 1 day.

Remove tart from pan.  If desired, sift cocoa powder lightly over tart.  Cut into small wedges.

source: Bon Appetit, May 2007