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).