Dark Chocolate And Lemon Ganache Tartlets Food

CHOCOLATE GANACHE MINI-TART RECIPE

Steps:

• Add first four ingredients to a food processor and pulse until well blended.
• Cut butter into 8 pieces. Add to dry ingredients and pulse until the mixture looks like oatmeal.
• Use a fork to break up and mix egg, then pour it all at once into the food processor bowl. Pulse 5-6 times to begin to moisten the mixture. Let the machine run steadily for a few seconds. Watch carefully until mixture begins to stick together and starts to form a ball. Machine will make a different sound as this happens.
• Press dough into a cylinder (like a roll of refrigerated cookie dough), cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 30-45 minutes or up to a week.
• When ready to make crusts, cut the cylinder into 12 equal slices. I usually end up with 13 tarts because I roll all the scraps together to make the 13th shell.
• Roll each slice between plastic wrap until just slightly larger around than tart shell. The dough should be just shy of 1/4 inch thick and a consistent thickness throughout. This can be a little tricky at first. Practice makes perfect.
• Cover and freeze mini-tart shells until rock hard.
• Place tart shells onto a cookie sheet. Cover the inside of each tart with foil pressed to fit down inside. Bake in preheated 400 degrees F oven for 10 minutes. Remove the foil and bake 2-3 more minutes.
• Cool for 5 minutes. Remove crust from pan or mold. Fill when completely cool.
• Chop chocolate and place into a deep bowl.
• Heat cream just until it starts to boil, then pour over chocolate and let sit for several minutes until chocolate has melted.
• Use a whisk or spoon to begin stirring in lazy circles starting from the middle until mixture is uniform. Don't go crazy stirring or chocolate will lose its beautiful gloss. Gentle motion is good.
• Add butter in small pieces and continue mixing gently until ganache is once again uniform.
• The mixture should be thick enough to go straight into the crusts, but if runny, refrigerate for a few minutes until it thickens.
• Fill cooled tartlet shells with ganache.
• Chill tartlets until ready to serve. Remove 30 minutes before serving to allow the filling to soften a bit. Garnish with fruit or whipped cream.

LEMON CURD AND CHOCOLATE GANACHE TART

Steps:

• Grate the lemon zest first, using a fresh, clean lemon. Only grate only the yellow part, avoiding the white pith which can be bitter. Then squeeze the lemons through a strainer for their juice.
• Mix the egg yolks with the sugar in a small heavy bottomed pot. Whisk in the lemon juice.
• Cook on medium heat until the mixture begins to thicken, stirring constantly. Do not boil or the eggs may scramble.
• Turn off the heat and whisk in the butter pieces. When all the butter is incorporated, whisk in the lemon zest.
• Allow to cool in the refrigerator. Yield is approximately 2 cups.
• Heat the cream in a heavy bottomed pot, just until it gets very hot; do not boil.
• Put the chocolate in a heat safe bowl and pour the hot cream over it. Wait a few minutes and then whisk until all the chocolate is melted.
• Yield is approximately 2 cups.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• Fit bowl with metal blade. Add flour, sugar and butter to bowl (add salt if butter is unsalted).
• Put on the lid and process in short bursts, about 10 times to break up the butter into the flour.
• Mix the egg yolk and water in a small bowl and with the processor on, pour the egg/water mix through the tube in the lid into the bowl. Keep mixing until the dough forms into a ball inside the bowl. Remove and form into a small cake.
• Cut the butter into the flour and sugar, working it through by hand until it becomes like coarse meal or breadcrumbs. Mix in the egg/water mixture with a fork until it's incorporated and the dough comes together in a soft ball.
• Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface. Once it is rolled out, put it in a 10" tart pan with removable bottom and press the dough into the edges, pulling off any excess.
• Because the filling for this recipe is not cooked in the tart shell, the crust needs to be baked by itself. To keep the center of the crust from puffing up and cracking during baking, you'll want to weigh it down.
• Cut a piece of parchment paper or foil to fit the bottom of the tart pan (see tip below).
• Pierce the bottom of the dough with a fork and put the paper on top.
• Weigh down with pie weights or beans.
• Bake for 8 minutes or until the edges of the crust begin to color. Remove from oven, and carefully remove the paper and beans. Put the tart back in the oven and bake until crisp and golden, about another 8 minutes. Remove and let cool. Fill.
• 1 baked tart crust
• 1 chocolate ganache recipe
• 1 lemon curd recipe
• Once the crust is baked, allow it to cool.
• Mix up the ganache and while it is still soft, pour it into the crust and place it in the refrigerator to firm up, about 20 minutes. Then spread the lemon curd on top.
• Optional garnishes; chocolate rose leaves, candied citrus peels or slices, chocolate curls.

DARK CHOCOLATE AND LEMON GANACHE TARTLETS

Steps:

• FOR PASTRY:
• Combine flour, powdered sugar and salt in processor. Using on/off turns, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add egg yolk, cream and vanilla. Process until moist clumps form. Gather dough into ball. Divide dough in half. Flatten each half into disk. Wrap in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated. Let dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling.)
• Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Roll out 1 dough disk on lightly floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness. Using plate as guide, cut out three 6-inch rounds. Transfer rounds to 4 1/2-inch-diameter tartlet pans with removable bottoms. Press dough into pans. Fold in any excess dough; press to form double-thick sides. Repeat rolling, cutting and forming with remaining dough disk, making 6 crusts total. Freeze crust until firm, about 5 minutes.
• Place crusts on large baking sheet. Bake until light golden brown, about 20 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool crusts completely. Remove crusts from pans.
• FOR FILLING:
• Bring 3/4 cup cream to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Add chocolate and whisk until smooth. Mix in 1 tablespoon lemon peel. Divide chocolate among cooled crusts. Refrigerate tartlets until filling is set, about 1 hour. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and keep refrigerated.)
• Combine 1/4 cup cream and 1/2 teaspoon lemon peel in large bowl. Beat until soft peaks form. Spoon whipped cream into pastry bag fitted with star tip. Pipe cream decoratively atop tartlets. Garnish with lemon twists, if desired.

DARK CHOCOLATE GANACHE

Steps:

• Bring cream and butter to a simmer.
• Pour over chocolate and stir/whisk until melted and smooth.

LEMON GANACHE

Steps:

• Chop chocolate into small pieces and place in a heat safe bowl.
• Bring cream to boil on stovetop.
• Once cream in boiling pour over chopped chocolate.
• Add lemon zest and lemon juice.
• Stir from the inside out, making sure not to let in to much air.
• Stir till chocolate is completely melted.
• That's it--you now have ganache. You can use this on cakes, to make truffles or just cool it in the fridge and snack on it later.
• You can also substitute the lemon with orange.