Chocolate Strawberry Tart

This morning I was driving to work and the sky was doing the coolest thing, stratified like orange haze left over from the sunrise burning off the soft grey overcast. And while I was driving and marveling I thought of how the sky does this to me a lot. By that I mean it grabs my attention and causes me to stare and wonder and, often, say something out loud about it. I mean it happens a lot, so I got to thinking about other things in life that do that same thing, you know? Stop me in my tracks so I'm just right there, pouring my whole attention into that one thing and following it somewhere new. And then I was thinking about how that's why I have always loved surprises so much and how a lack of surprise and wonder tends to be what generates stagnant, miserable ennui in my life - creating a fertile breeding ground of discontent. And then I had this realization that everything in my life has the potential to be like the sky. Specifically, that my relationships (by which I mean all interactions with people- parents, best friend, cashier at grocery store), which has been my greatest challenge in this life, are really just like sunsets and great music and new recipes in that they are wild and beyond my control. In that they can lead me somewhere new if I will follow but so often I react with fear to that wildness in relationships. Instead of stepping into the unknown with an open heart I stand there in the doorway with my arms crossed, trying to figure out how I can acquire an advantage, protect my heart, and ensure that I won't get hurt before I take any chances and let down my guard. It sucks.

So all of that happened in the span of about 40 seconds inside my brain on the way to work this morning, which is pretty cool if you ask me. Are you ok? Maybe I should have warned you that you were about to go on a journey into the recesses of my mind. But then, it wouldn't be an adventure, would it? What all of this has to do with the amazing strawberry chocolate tart I made last week is that this recipe is a great example of how cooking and baking are that same thing for me. New recipes often enchant me so I can't stop thinking about them and then when I take action and actually try them, I often find myself in a sort of meditative flow that ends with me having experienced something totally new. I ran across this recipe in a book called Heavenly Feasts. It is a collection of recipes from retreats and monasteries across the country. I found it on the dining room table one day and sat down to flip through it, one of my most favorite things to do. This one recipe kept catching my eye, Chocolate Pear Tart. It's a layered pie and the combination of layers sounded like nothing I'd ever had before but really should have because why on earth wouldn't you combine these things?

The recipe in the book called for a layer of chocolate mousse made with sour cream, a layer of poached pears, and a custard layer on top. I must not have read the recipe very well because as I was thinking about making the tart I kept imagining that the chocolate layer would be kind of like a ganache. It calls for a cup of sour cream, so it was never going to be ganache but that does give me an idea for a variation. Actually the tart that I ended up making had a lot of differences from what was written, both by choice and due to a poorly written recipe. Still, it turned out amazing and I kind of wish I had some right now. It was the perfect combination of tangy chocolate mousse, naturally sweet fruit, and creamy custard all in a sort of shortbread crust. The book said to serve it warm but I think it was better chilled. A couple of things I changed include the fruit (I went with strawberries instead of pears and I can't wait to try it with raspberries, maybe cherries too, ooh and maybe even bananas!); the sour cream, which I switched out for nonfat Greek yogurt and it was perfect; and the chocolate which I decided to just buy in semi-sweet form.

Below is the recipe with my changes written in as side notes. One thing I will just outright change about the recipe, though, is the baking dish. It called for an 8 inch pie dish. I used a 9 inch one because it's what I had. The thing was still way too small so I ended up with a 2 millimeter custard layer and had to trash most of the custard mix. So, I'm just going to say use a springform or some other deep dish pan or reduce the other ingredients to make more room for the custard. Enjoy!




Chocolate Strawberry Tart, adapted from Heavenly Feasts

Ingredients:
3 eggs
1/8 t. salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar (1/4 C for dough, 1/2 C for chocolate)
1/2 cup butter, cut into small pieces
3 oz dark baking chocolate (or semi-sweet chocolate)
1 cup sour cream, plus 2 T for custard
2 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced (or 2 lb poached pears, or other fruit)
3/4 cup milk

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease an eight inch springform pan.

2. Whisk together flour, sugar, and salt. Cut in butter with pastry blender (which is completely worth the investment) or two knives until the mixture is a coarse, pea-sized meal. Beat 1 egg and mix in thoroughly with a fork. If more moisture is needed to make the dough stick together, add approximately 2 tablespoons of cold water, in any case enough to get the dough to stick together.

3. Form the dough into a disk, wrap in wax paper, and chill in refrigerator for 45 minutes to an hour.

4. Roll out dough and place in your baking pan. You will need to press it up the sides of the springform. Make sure it is well-greased so it will come off after baking.

5. Melt the chocolate very slowly (I used a Pyrex bowl over a pot of boiling water) with 1 cup of sour cream or Greek yogurt. If you use unsweetened baking chocolate, add the sugar now until sweet. I used semi-sweet so there was no need to add sugar and it turned out great.

6. Pour chocolate filling over the pastry and spread evenly.

7. Place the sliced fruit over the chocolate filling.

8. Beat the remaining 2 eggs, 2 T sour cream or yogurt, and milk together. Pour over the fruit.

9. Bake for 35 - 40 minutes. Serve warm or chilled (I prefer chilled).

Chocolate Farina and a new ice cream flavor at The Hop.

I don't have anything too exciting to post, but wanted to at least keep rolling on this thing. There are two notable food experiences from last weekend that I can share. One, I had the cockamamie idea to put cocoa powder in my cream of wheat. I guess it's because of all the leftover cocoa from the whoopie pie extravaganza. If you're from the south, you may not have the connection some of us do to cream of wheat - also known as farina. To me, that stuff is pure comfort. It tastes like childhood and being taken care of by my parents. When I was a kid, I liked it when the lumps formed and I got chewy chunks of cream of wheat stuck together. Yes, I was a weird kid, why do you ask? Anyway, in the south, they eat grits. Despite my hometown being below the Mason Dixon, we have a bunch of northern influence in our food. Grits stop being common at the Virginia line. Though I've come to love grits (and nearly everything else about the South, including cute boys with southern accents) they don't have the same effect as cream of wheat. If you've had it, and like it, you know what I mean. It can't be described. I started eating the stuff for my pre-long run meal because it has even less fiber than instant oatmeal, a good thing when you're about to go run for 3-4 hours. So, I had this idea to add cocoa powder and I was correct to do that. I have invented a way to eat desert for breakfast or any time of day that you need some love because it's like eating a hug! Seriously. Just add about a tablespoon to the regular recipe. I follow what's on the box and do the butter and sugar to taste (aka a whole damn bunch because butter and sugar are awesome). Just so you know, if you're celiac or otherwise wheat intolerant, they make a rice version. I haven't tried rice farina but I'm thinking about it just to see what it's like. If it measures up, I'll probably switch, just cause I seem to do better if I limit my gluten. By no means am I celiac or anything even close, I just notice I'm less sluggish with less wheat flour in my diet.

My other food adventure happened on Saturday night. I went out to dinner with some friends (can I just tell you how grateful I am to have friends who like to go out to eat - like for every meal plus snack and desert and coffee? it's rad) and then we went to this ice cream place called The Hop, which makes amazing ice cream and smells like I hope heaven will, which is like sugar pretty much. When we walked in the girl was like "Hey we have a new flavor. It's called Elvis." So I asked her if it was peanut butter and banana, since that was Elvis' favorite sandwich. And she said it was but that there was a secret ingredient and got my friend to try and guess. Turns out it was bacon! So I had to try some and oh my, now I understand why everyone on the planet is putting bacon in their cupcakes and frosting and toffee and covering it in chocolate because Sweet Debbie, it was f-ing amazing! It was a completely smooth ice cream, no banana, peanut butter or bacon chunks. Incredibly creamy with a perfect balance of all three flavors. The bacon is subtle and serves to bring out the best in the banana and peanut butter. Holy crap. If I can't have sex, I'll take Elvis. Thank you The Hop, I will be back for a pint later this week.

Whoopie Pies!

I am begining to suspect that the demons of technology are trying to hold a sister back when it comes to this food blog thing. First, my camera broke a few weeks ago making it impossible to take pics of my lovely creations. And then on Friday (irony of ironies, right after I got home with my new external hard drive for backing things up) my sweet little Mac-y-poo went to sleep and would not wake up. So, she's in the shop. But you know what, I'm food blogging come hell or high water! It's most important that I blog about this weekend's events because I had a Whoopie Party! Are you like "What the heck's a whoopie party?" That's cool, I'll tell you. It's a party with good people, good conversation, the grill going, and this yummy confection called the Whoopie Pie. See image (which I took with the camera on my Blackberry) below:

Imagine chocolate cake, baked in little blobs so they're kind of like cookies, with vanilla cream frosting sandwiched between them. It's like an Oreo cookie cake, or something. I also made a version of the filling with a couple tablespoons of Nutella (hazelnut chocolate spread, nectar of the Gods) replacing some of the butter and they were A-mazing.

So the reason that this party was important really has nothing to do with Whoopie Pies. I could have made anything and the effect probably would've been the same. What is important is that it was the first large gathering I've had since I became single and got a house all to myself. It's something I knew I wanted to do almost immediately, something that's been in my heart for a long time, really, that I just couldn't do under my previous circumstances. Truly, it's got everything in the world to do with the purpose of this blog and the importance of food and cooking in my life. I wanted to open my home to my friends - some old, some I've only just met - give them a place to have a nice time and some good food to gather around. And it worked! We were successful. With the help of my awesome friend Lori, I was actually ready when people started showing up. Everyone loved the Whoopie Pies and I had enough to share with friends who couldn't come to the party and with my co-workers. I used a recipe from Epicurious.com (which I seem to have left off of the links list, I'll add it shortly). Also, it had been my intention to make a gluten-free vegan version for two friends with dietary restrictions but poor time management made that impossible. I will be sure to update this post with that recipe after I make them (it just feels wrong not to make them, you know?). So here's the recipe I used, with added commentary:

Classic Whoopie Pie Recipe (from Epicurious.com)

Ingredients:
For cakes:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup well-shaken buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 large egg

For filling:

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cups confectioners sugar
• 2 cups marshmallow cream such as Marshmallow Fluff
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation:

Make cakes:
Preheat oven to 350°F.

Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a bowl until combined. Stir together buttermilk and vanilla in a small bowl.

Beat together butter and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes in a standing mixer or 5 minutes with a handheld, then add egg, beating until combined well. Reduce speed to low and alternately mix in flour mixture and buttermilk in batches, beginning and ending with flour, scraping down side of bowl occasionally, and mixing until smooth.

Spoon 1/4-cup mounds of batter about 2 inches apart onto 2 buttered large baking sheets. Bake in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until tops are puffed and cakes spring back when touched, 11 to 13 minutes. Transfer with a metal spatula to a rack to cool completely*.

*Seriously, let them cool completely. If they're too warm, the filling gets all melty and the sandwiches don't stick together. In fact, stick 'em in the fridge after they're filled to keep this from happening.

Make filling:
Beat together butter, confectioners sugar, marshmallow, and vanilla in a bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. To make Kelly's Nutella version, replace about 2 tablespoons of the butter with 2 tablespoons of Nutella. Holy freakin' hazelnuts, it's so so good.

Assemble pies:
Spread a rounded tablespoon filling on flat sides of half of cakes and top with remaining cakes.

Cooks' notes:

• Cakes can be made 3 days ahead and kept, layered between sheets of wax paper, in an airtight container at room temperature.
  

• Filling can be made 4 hours ahead and kept, covered, at room temperature.

Whoopie!!!!