Warm Mocha Tart Food

FROZEN CAFé-MOCHACCINO TART

Steps:

• Crust: In a food processor, pulse flour, sugar, salt, and cocoa to combine. Add butter; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal with some pea-size pieces remaining. Stir together yolk and cream; drizzle over flour mixture, pulsing several times to combine. Transfer mixture to a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom, pressing evenly into bottom and up sides. Refrigerate until firm, about 20 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Prick bottom of crust at 1-inch intervals with the tines of a fork. Bake until set and dry, about 15 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
• Meanwhile, temper both ice creams in refrigerator until softened but not melting, about 20 minutes. Stir together ice creams until no streaks remain; transfer to cooled crust, spreading all the way to edges and smoothing top with an offset spatula. Freeze until firm, about 1 hour (or wrap in plastic at this point and freeze up to 1 week).
• Caramel Meringue: In a small saucepan, combine 6 tablespoons sugar, salt, and 1 tablespoon water. Cover; cook over medium heat, swirling a few times, until boiling and sugar has dissolved, about 5 minutes. Uncover; continue boiling, undisturbed, until mixture turns medium amber, about 3 minutes more. Remove from heat. Carefully add cream (it will bubble and splatter); stir until smooth. Transfer to a heatproof bowl.
• Combine egg whites, remaining 3/4 cup sugar, and cream of tartar in a heatproof mixer bowl set over (but not in) a pot of simmering water. Whisk constantly just until mixture is warm to the touch and sugar has dissolved (it should feel smooth when rubbed between your fingers). Remove from heat; beat on high speed until stiff peaks form and mixture is no longer warm to the touch, 7 to 9 minutes.
• Reduce speed to low and beat in a scant 1/4 cup caramel just to combine (do not overmix; caramel will still be warm). Spoon meringue over ice cream and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours (tart can be wrapped in plastic at this point and frozen up to 3 days). Cover and refrigerate remaining caramel until ready to serve.
• Remove tart from pan; transfer to a cake plate. Drizzle top with remaining caramel (or serve alongside); sprinkle with cocoa nibs or decorate with chocolate espresso beans. Cut into wedges, dipping knife blade in hot water and wiping clean between each cut to ensure clean slices.

MOCHA TARTLETS

Steps:

• Make custard:
• Beat together yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and a pinch of salt in a bowl with an electric mixer until thick and pale, about 1 minute. Heat milk in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat until hot but not boiling. Add one third of hot milk to yolk mixture in a slow stream, whisking constantly. Pour remainder of milk into yolk mixture, whisking, then transfer to saucepan. Simmer, whisking constantly, until very thick, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add chocolate, liqueur, butter, and espresso powder. Let stand until chocolate is melted, about 1 minute, then whisk until smooth. Force custard through a fine sieve into a bowl. Cover surface of custard with wax paper and chill until cold, at least 4 hours.
• Make tartlet shells while custard chills:
• Pulse together flour, sugar, salt, butter, egg, and vanilla in a food processor until dough is smooth and begins to form a ball (it will be soft, like cookie dough). Turn out dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and gather into a ball. Flatten dough into a disk and chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 30 minutes and up to 8 hours (overnight).
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Break off 1-teaspoon pieces of dough and press evenly into molds with floured fingers to form shells about 1/16 inch thick, pinching off excess from rim and making bottoms slightly thinner than sides. Arrange molds 1 inch apart in a shallow baking pan and chill until dough is firm again, about 30 minutes.
• Bake in middle of oven, rotating pan halfway through baking, until pale golden, 12 to 15 minutes total. Transfer molds to a rack to cool, then carefully remove shells from molds. Make more tartlet shells in same manner if desired.
• Assemble tartlets:
• Fill pastry bag with custard and pipe decoratively into shells.

WARM MOCHA TART

Steps:

• Special Equipment Needed: 9 1/2-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom.
• Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F.
• To make the tart crust: Mix the melted butter, sugar, salt and vanilla in a medium bowl. Add the flour and mix just until well blended. Don't worry if the dough seems too soft. Press all of the dough very thinly and evenly into the bottom and up the sides of the tart pan.
• Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the crust is a deep golden brown.
• Meanwhile, make the filling: Place the butter, sugar, cocoa powder and cream in a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring, until the mixture is blended and smooth and begins to bubble around the edges. Remove from the heat and stir or whisk in the espresso or coffee powder and vanilla.
• Just before the crust is ready, whisk the egg thoroughly into the hot chocolate mixture.
• Pour the filling into the hot crust and turn off the oven. Leave the tart in the oven until it quivers like tender Jell-O in the center when the pan is nudged, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on a rack.
• Serve the tart warm or at room temperature.
• Chocolate Note: Either natural or Dutch-process cocoa works well here. The former has a livelier, more complex, fruity flavor, while the latter has a cozy old-fashioned flavor reminiscent of chocolate pudding.

MARBLEIZED MOCHA TART

Steps:

• Blend flour, powdered sugar and salt in processor 5 seconds. Add butter and cut in using on/off turns until mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix in yolk and enough water to form moist clumps. Knead dough briefly on work surface to combine; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.
• Preheat oven to 375°F. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 16-inch round (scant 1/8 inch thick). Transfer dough to 11-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Press dough into pan; trim excess. Freeze crust 15 minutes.
• Place tart pan on baking sheet. Bake crust 10 minutes; pierce with toothpick if crust bubbles. Continue to bake until crust is pale golden, about 12 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool crust completely.
• Stir chocolate, cream and espresso powder in heavy medium saucepan over low heat just until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth (mixture will be warm, not hot). Pour mocha ganache into prepared crust.
• Stir white chocolate and cream in heavy small saucepan over very low heat just until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Drizzle over mocha ganache. Using tip of small knife or toothpick, swirl fillings together to marbleize. Refrigerate tart until filling is cold and firm, at least 3 hours. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Cover and keep refrigerated.)
• Push pan bottom up to free tart from pan. Cut tart into wedges and serve.

MOCHA CUSTARD TART

Steps:

• Make crust:
• Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Spray 10-inch-diameter springform pan with vegetable oil spray. Wrap outside of pan tightly with double layer of heavy-duty foil. Finely grind cookies and walnuts in processor. Add melted butter; process to blend. Press mixture firmly onto bottom (not sides) of pan. Chill crust while making filling.
• Make filling:
• Bring whipping cream, milk and 1/3 cup water to simmer in heavy small saucepan. Remove from heat. Whisk in cocoa powder, chocolate liqueur, espresso powder and vanilla extract.
• Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese in large bowl until smooth. Add sugar and beat until well blended. Add 4 whole eggs 1 at a time, then 2 yolks, beating well after each addition and occasionally scraping bottom and sides of bowl. Gradually add hot cream-cocoa mixture and beat until smooth. Pour mixture into prepared crust. Place springform pan in large roasting pan. Pour enough boiling water into roasting pan to come halfway up sides of springform pan.
• Bake tart until custard moves just slightly in center when pan is gently shaken and tester inserted into center comes out with some custard still attached, about 1 hour 20 minutes. Remove pan from water; remove foil. Cool tart in pan on rack. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.
• Make ganache:
• Bring first 4 ingredients to simmer in heavy small saucepan. Remove from heat. Add chocolate and vanilla extract; whisk until chocolate is melted and smooth. Let ganache stand until slightly cooled but still pourable, about 10 minutes.
• Run small knife around pan sides to loosen tart. Remove pan sides. Place tart on platter. Pour ganache atop tart. Using thin metal spatula, spread ganache evenly over top of tart, being careful not to allow ganache to drip down sides. Using icing comb or tines of fork, make decorative concentric circles in wave pattern in ganache. Garnish top of tart with chocolate coffee bean candies, if desired. Refrigerate until ganache is softly set, about 15 minutes. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and keep chilled. Let stand at room temperature 45 minutes before serving.) Cut tart into wedges; serve.