Posts tagged ‘chocolate ganache’

Apr 1

Happy Easter, A Chocolate Banana Vegan Tart

Happy Holidays to everyone, Easter, Passover or just celebrate that Spring is finally here. Honestly, it has not really felt like Spring with blustery cold and snow and unfortunately more in the forecast for this week. I see signs of the change of seasons everywhere, flowers popping up, longer daylight, warmer weather trying to take hold.

I often make pie dough and will line a tart pan and freeze, this tart is delicious, no animal products were used in making it but you can easily adapt using cream for the ganache and whipped cream to top it. The ganache was made with dark chocolate, sweetened condensed coconut milk and coconut milk. The whipped topping is made by simply refrigerating a can of coconut milk, the cream will rise to the top and become solid. All you have to do is scoop it out and whip it with sweetener and flavoring.

Chocolate Tart (Vegan)

Pie crust ( use your favorite recipe or commercially prepared)

4 oz dark chocolate (I used vegan chocolate)

1/4 cup sweetened condensed coconut milk

1/4 cup coconut milk (Note: for non vegan or regular ganache use 1/2 cup heavy cream)

1 banana sliced

coconut or regular whipped cream

Toasted coconut (optional)

Place a can of coconut milk in the refrigerator before you begin or even better the night before. The coconut cream will separate from the liquid and you will use that (saving the liquid for another recipe)

Heat oven to 400 degree’s. Place pie dough in 8 or 9 inch tart pan. You are going to blind bake the pie crust, place a sheet of parchment on top and fill the pan with pie weights or beans or whatever you like to use. Bake for approximately 20 minutes, remove parchment and weights and bake for another 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool. Note: the oven should be quite hot, I baked the first tart shell at 375 and even with pie weights it shrunk down the sides.

Ganache

Heat the coconut milk or heavy cream to scalding. Place the chocolate in a small bowl and pour the hot cream over the chocolate, let sit for 5 minutes and stir until the chocolate is melted and the ganache is smooth and shiny. Pour into the cooled tart shell and refrigerate until set, approximately 1-2 hours or overnight.

To serve

Place sliced banana on top of the chocolate. Scoop the coconut cream from the cold can of coconut milk. Whip with electric mixer adding sugar to taste and flavoring of your choice (vanilla) or you can add 2 tbs of the sweetened condensed coconut milk that is left from making the ganache. Heat oven to 350 and toast flaked coconut until golden brown, watch it closely it will burn and only takes a few minutes. Spread some of the whipped cream (coconut or other) on top of the banana’s and sprinkle with toasted coconut.

Happy Easter from Percy and Jenna Rose!

Jan 20

155 Comments

Chocolate Orange Cream Tart

The lastest contest at Food52 is all about tarts, Your Best Tart to be exact, I have to say that making pies and tarts is something I love doing, I put my thinking cap on because I wanted to come up with a recipe that was a little different and creative. Buttery pastry with an assortment of fillings whether sweet or savory is comfort food at it’s best IMHO. I was already in the cream or curd mode after making the scones so I whipped up another batch just using oranges and tangerines, it has substance from the addition of cream cheese which give a little tang also, the crust is adapted from Martha Stewarts recipe for Pate Sucré. The combination of chocolate and orange has always been one of my all time favorite flavor combinations so I covered the orange cream with a ganache gently flavored with orange thanks to the addition of Grand Marnier. A simple whipped cream garnish and some candied orange zest make this a lovely dessert.

I know I posted this already but I decided to bring my little tarts to the party, Fiesta Friday #103 the big event Angie is hosting and her lovely co hosts this week are two of my all time favorites Your co-hosts this week are Sonal @ simplyvegetarian777 and Petra @ Food Eat Love. YAY!!!

Makes 9 inch tart or 6 tartlets
Pate Sucré
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
8 ounces cold unsalted butter cut into pieces
3 egg yolks from large eggs
3 tablespoons heavy cream
Orange Cream
6 egg yolks from large eggs
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange or tangerine juice
4 teaspoons orange zest divided
1/2 cup unsalted butter
4 tablespoons cream cheese softened
Ganache
4 ounces dark chocolate
4 ounces milk chocolate
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon Grand Marnier or orange liquor
Tart Crust-Put the flour, salt and sugar in the food processor, pulse to combine, add the butter and pulse until it resembles fine crumbs. Add the egg yolk and cream and pulse until the dough comes together, it will be shaggy but thats ok, test it by pinching a piece and if it holds together it’s fine. Divide in two, press into disks and refrigerate for an hour. Pre heat the oven to 375, line tart pan or tartlet pans, prick with fork and place in freezer for 30 minutes. Place a piece of parchment in the tart pan or pans and pour in pie weights or beans. Bake 20 minutes remove the parchment and weights and place back in the oven for another 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Cool on rack.
Orange Cream-Zest the fruit and juice and set aside. In mixing bowl add the egg yolks, sugar and a pinch of salt. Beat with hand held mixer until creamy and light. Whisk in the juice and 2 tsp of zest and pour into sauce pan. Cook at medium low heat stirring constantly until the sugar has melted and it’s hot to the touch. Now add the butter one piece at a time stirring constantly until the butter is melted. Place thermometer in and continue cooking until it reaches a temperature of 175 degrees. Remove from heat. Pour through a sieve into a bowl or large measuring cup, add 1 tsp of orange zest stir to combine and cover with plastic that sits directly on top of the curd, allow to come to room temperature then refrigerate overnight. Pour the chilled curd in the blender with the cream cheese and the rest of the orange zest and blend until thick and creamy. Spoon into container and refrigerate until ready to use.
Ganache-Heat the cream to scalding, chop the chocolate and place in mixing bowl, pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth, add the liquor and stir. Let the ganache come to room temperature stirring frequently. Place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to thicken a bit you want the ganache to be thick but still pourable.

Assembling and serving:
tart shell or shells
Ganache
orange cream
whipped cream and orange zest to garnish
Spoon the chilled orange cream into the tart shell filling the shell halfway. Pour the ganache on top of the orange cream and return to the refrigerator where it needs to chill for at least 4 hours or overnight. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream and some candied orange zest.

Nov 7

107 Comments

Whipped Chocolate Caramel Ganache – Hooray, I’m A Food52 Finalist!!

Whipped Chocolate Caramel Ganache

I actually discovered that if you whisk or whip ganache it turns into a fluffy spreadable concoction. I like using this because it’s not too sweet, easy to spread and decorate with. The chocolate caramel gives this ganache a buttery deeply delicious flavor. This icing is light, much lighter than a standard American buttercream, closer to the consistency of a swiss meringue buttercream but without the eggs. I like to use both dark and milk chocolate but you can can use all dark or even all milk. If you use all dark it will be less sweet.

I had this recipe for over a week as a draft, but entered it in a Food52 contest for best frostings. Well, I just found out today that I am a finalist, I am so thrilled and happy that my recipe was chosen. So now I will shamelessly plug my recipe and ask you all if you don’t mind to vote for me, here is the link to food52 to vote If you are not a member of food52 (you should be) it’s simple and totally painless to join and you will love the site, you will not be barraged with emails and the like. If you do vote for me I thank you so much!! I used Divine Fair Trade Chocolate in this recipe, the bittersweet for the caramel, dark and milk for the ganache.

Makes enough frosting to fill and frost a 9-inch cakeChocolate Caramel Sauce:

1 cup sugar
6 tablespoons salted butter cut into tablepoon-size pieces
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 ounces dark chocolate (I used bittersweet)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Put the heavy cream in a glass measuring cup and microwave on high for 45 seconds, add chocolate and microwave another 30 seconds Stir until its smooth, add the vanilla extract and stir to combine, set aside so that it will cool before adding to the caramel.
In large saucepan add the sugar, turn heat to med/high and let sit until it starts to liquefy. Start stirring with a heat proof spatula. The sugar will crystalize but that’s alright — keep stirring until its all liquid. Stop stirring and let it cook until it turns amber in color, then add the butter and stir to combine.
Remove from heat and add the chocolate cream. Stir until its incorporated. Store in a container at room temperature until ready to use. Note: If you make this ahead of time, simply place the bottle or jar in hot water to warm the caramel so it’s pourable.

Ganache :

4 ounces dark chocolate broken into small pieces
4 ounces milk chocolate broken into small pieces
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon liquor (I like cointreau or kahlua) or vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate caramel sauce

Heat cream to scalding (not boiling). Pour over the pieces of chocolate that are in a mixing bowl. Let sit 5 minutes then stir until there are no pieces of chocolate and it’s smooth and shiny, then add the chocolate caramel sauce and stir to combine.
Place bowl in an ice bath and stir or whisk until it’s cool but not cold — it will stiffen fairly quickly if it gets too cold. Remove from the ice bath and beat with a mixer or whisk until the ganache is fluffy and spreadable. Frost the cake immediately. Best served at room temperature.