Oh, Chocolate Cream Tart, I wanted to love you. I thought I would love you. But I guess we're just not meant to be together.
See, usually I'm a big ole chocolate freak. I'm always adding extra ounces of chocolate to recipes, or sneaking in an extra layer of chocolate ganache, or stuffing my mouth with chocolate while making a nutritious dinner...ahem. But this tart was...can it be..I didn't even think this was possible...too chocolatey for me.
Something about the combination of not-very-sweet chocolate tart dough, and the SUPER INTENSELY CHOCOLATELY pastry cream (it's true, capital letters wouldn't lie) and then the barely sweetened whipped cream on top made it all too much for me. I didn't think it tasted bad, but I wasn't able to eat a whole slice of it.
It's funny--I love chocolate, but I never really like chocolate tart dough. I just think it's unnecessary! It's like, if you're going to make a dessert chocolate flavored, go ahead and use real chocolate instead of a dough with a few spoonfuls of cocoa powder. Quit pretending and man up. Even weirder, I actually really loved the taste of the unbaked dough (maybe a little too much, since I barely had enough to make the shell. *innocent whistling*) But once it was baked and composed with the other elements, it kind of lost me.
If I were to do this again, I would use a regular sweet tart dough, and fold in a little whipped cream to the chocolate pastry cream to lighten it a bit. And I would definitely sweetenen the cream on top a bit more. I can also see this being nice with another flavor element--maybe a drizzle of raspberry coulis, or the addition of a coconut cream layer, or topped with caramelized bananas, or studded with toasted hazelnuts for a Nutella vibe. SOMETHING. But as it was, it was too much of a good thing, which I didn't even think was possible when it came to chocolate.
My world, it is upended.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Tuesdays with Dorie: Chocolate Cream Tart
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It's gorgeous, love the presentation! I absolutely was in love with this tart as is! The chocolate dough was delish :) So creamy too! Even better after a day in the fridge MMMMMMMMM
ReplyDeleteAHHH! Chocolate overload? Say it isn't so!
ReplyDeleteI didn't use bittersweet chocolate, and I also put in some hazelnut coffee creamer.
ReplyDeleteIt was fabulousl.
OH gorgeous photos. I must admit that this wasn't "too much" for me, but I can see how it could be. One of the variations I made was to mix the whipped cream and the pastry filling in a big swirly pile and that worked really well to cut the richness of the chocolate ... it wound up being H's favorite.
ReplyDeleteWOW! Very elegant take on the chocolate tart, Liz!
ReplyDeleteI simply love the last picture... Hummm... are you left handed??? (I often ask myself such stupid questions out of observation! LOL)
I hear ya on chocolate overload - I also wasn't a big fan of the crust. Your presentation is beautiful though!
ReplyDeleteI was afraid it would be chocolatey for me and used milk chocolate in the filling. I ended up not trying the whole thing anyways....
ReplyDeleteYour tart is stunning! Great job!
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteThis tart looks amazing! I am going to try it. I dont think it would be too much chocolatey for me! And the photos are amazing!! i can stare at them all day.. to bad i am at work...
:)
thanks for sharing.
TOO CHOCOLATY!!! WOW!! And from you, Elizabeth. WOW!! But it is a beautiful tart. I made minis and about 1/2 was all I could handle because it was sooooo rich. But not too chocolaty for me. It would be good with caramel, or bananas, or maybe a little amaretto flavoring.....
ReplyDeleteBeautiful Tart.
Too chocolately? What a concept. I love how you made yours look gorgeous even though it wasn't your favorite thing ever. It was my favorite thing and even so I could barely wait to cut into it so mine looks all slumpy.
ReplyDeleteWell, even if you didn't like it, I bet someone did. That is one very elegant and lovely tart! I need to take lessons from you on how to do chocolate shavings...I didn't have a clue! Great job...someeone must be very happy with this!
ReplyDeleteYour tart looks wonderful. Too bad it was a little too much for you. I like your suggestions, though.
ReplyDeleteYour tart looks gorgeous, picture perfect. I hear you on the tooo chocolatey, as a recent admirer of chocolate.
ReplyDeleteToooo chocolatey? I never thought I'd hear those words out of your mouth. I consider myself to be on par with your love of chocolate, so now you have me wanting to try this tart just to see what "too chocolatey" tastes like. (Okay, I'm not going to lie. I also want to make the tart dough to eat it raw because you said it was so good :) )
ReplyDeleteWell, it sure looks beautiful! You said it all much better than I did, but I also didn't care for its extreme chocolaty-ness. I do want to make it again with alterations--definitely without the "chocolate" crust.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
How are you going to make the tiramisu sans coffe/alcohol?
Wow Liz! Yours is gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteLove or no love, it's lovely. Those chocolate curls are ridiculously enviable.
ReplyDeleteI want to lick my computer screen. But I won't. It looks beautiful!
ReplyDeleteIt looks very pretty, though! And I love the idea of toasted hazelnuts or caramelized bananas.
ReplyDeleteYour tart looks fantastic! I can definitely see how it'd be too much chocolate with the chocolate tart shell and the chocolate pastry cream.
ReplyDeleteWow, just simply wow! I have been dreaming of chocolate cream pie for months now, but it is just too rich for the chicken littles in my house, so I have decided to live vicariously through your blog! Drool, lick screen, mmmmm. Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteMmm chocolate shavings. I like the caramelized banana idea, too.
ReplyDeleteChocolates.. I do love chocolates.. Good job
ReplyDeleteGood ideas! I like the way you express your idea and the topic you choose. KEep on your sharing! I appreciate it.
ReplyDelete