Black and White Tart
I’m sure I’ve said it before but I love coffee. I’m on this idea kick of trying to replicate drinks into dessert form. Recently I made the Lemon tart from Hummingbird High (yes I know that’s not her site. I can’t find it there). I wonder if she’d sign one of her books for me? Anyway when you make the tart shell it smokes, bubbles, and is super metal, witchy, dark, etc. That felt perfect for this blog. To keep with the coffee/espresso feel I wanted to go for a black and white mocha feel. Rich yet sweet at the same time. I modified the tart recipe and increased the amount of ingredients to make a bit larger of a shell. Mostly to see if I could but the 8” tart pan still had the lemon tart in it.
In a bid to learn more about coffee, and help some small businesses during this pandemic, I ordered some Unicorn Blood Espresso from Dark Matter Coffee. I clearly don’t know a lot about coffee yet, more on that in another post, but I got it with a french press grind. That is the perfect level of grind for baking with. It’s basically the same texture as flour. Complete side note it does not work at all for espresso. It’s too finely ground. How do I know? Just trust me. Like I said more in another post. I increased the butter and added some cocoa powder to the mix for chocolaty flavor. Tasting the dough isn’t something I’d recommend as it’s unsweetened cocoa powder. It had me pretty worried to be honest. It worked out very well though.
The main issue I had with this recipe is my own self doubt. Yeah that’s still a thing. I’m always doubting myself. I will admit it’s getting better in certain areas. New recipes and baking isn’t quite yet one of them. I created the dark chocolate ganache and it was perfect. I created the white chocolate ganache and it looked wrong to me. I was so worried that it’d separated. I know white chocolate isn’t real chocolate so I figured I’d ruined it. I didn’t want to ruin the whole tart so I didn’t mix it in in the way I had planned. I spoke to the witch and she talked me down a bit. Shortly after I could tell that the white chocolate ganache would set properly. Damn. Better late than never so I drizzled it on top of the tart. Next I’ll really go all in a mix them together for the real black and white mocha feel. To round it all out I sprinkled some raw sugar and sea salt on the top. You hit one of those and you get either a sweet or salty kick. I’m happy with out it turned out. I just wish I’d trusted myself enough to go for it. What’s the worst that happens? It doesn’t turn out and I have to do it again. Currently in this environment the answer is yes. It’s hard to get good chocolate to test with. Lesson learned! Go for it. Have some faith in yourself.
Stay safe and keep your physical distance.
Ingredients
Tart:
1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter (1 stick)
3 Tablespoons of water
1 Tablespoon of espresso (or cold brew concentrate)
1 Tablespoon of canola oil
1 Tablespoon of granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
1 Tablespoon of ground espresso/coffee (french press ground if possible)
2 Tablespoons of Dutch processed cocoa powder
1 1/3 Cup of All Purpose Flour
Ganaches:
3/4 C heavy cream
6.4 oz (2 3.2oz bars) of Dark chocolate 60-77%
1/2 Cup heavy cream
4 oz white chocolate
1 teaspoon of sugar in the raw
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
Instructions
Tart:
Preheat the oven to 400 Degrees
In a heat proof glass bowl mix the butter, water, espresso/cold brew, canola oil, sugar, and pinch of salt
Bake for 20 minutes until boiling and butter is slightly brown
Meanwhile in another bowl whisk together the flour, espresso/coffee grounds, cocoa powder, and AP Flour
Carefully remove the melted butter mixture from the oven and add the dry ingredients THIS WILL BUBBLE AND SMOKE
Mix together with a heat proof spatula. Set mixture aside for 3-4 minutes to cool
Reserve 1 Tablespoon of the dough to fill any cracks
Once cool enough to handle press the dough into, and up the sides, of a 9” tart pan.
Bake at 400 for 15 minutes
Remove and let cool on a wire rack
Store under a bowl overnight
Ganaches:
Chop the Dark Chocolate and add to one bowl
Chop the White “Chocolate” and add to another bowl
Bring the 1 1/4 Cup of heavy cream to a simmer in a small sauce pan
Pour it into a glass liquid measuring cup
Pour 3/4 Cup of the simmering heavy cream into the dark chocolate and the rest, 1/2 Cup, into the white chocolate.
Let sit for 2-3 minutes to start melting
Whisk each chocolate until smooth (for funzies do both at the same time)
Complete the Tart:
Sprinkle some raw sugar into the cooled tart shell
Pour the ganaches into the tart shell overlapping and swirling as you go
Sprinkle the remaining raw sugar and sea salt onto the top
Chill in the refrigerator until set