TWD - Chocolate Cream Tart

Did you hear it? 

The sigh of bliss from all the chocolate loving Tuesdays with Dorie bakers?

This tart brought on the rapture...

Dorie, I love you. Sigh.

Where was I?

This week's recipe was brought to you by Kim of Scrumptious Photography. Kim, I love you, too. I love pretty much everyone after a slice of the tart you selected for us this week.

It was easy to make, especially if you THOROUGHLY read the directions and then followed them. I forgot to do that, so making this tart stretched from the afternoon into the evening and now I'm reporting to all of you at 10 PM. I still have a pile of dishes to attack (more on that later), but I am one fat and happy camper after helping myself to a slice of this tart so I could tell you about it. It was a sacrifice, but one I was willing to make. Now that I've tasted it, I know this tart will be gone in the blink of an eye after I put it out at work. It's not eye candy, but it is the chocolate lover's dream. Perfection. 

I did have a few bumps making it. I initially planned to cut the recipe in half, but after I dumped in the butter, I realized I had forgotten to cut the butter in half. I didn't read the recipe well enough and didn't realize I had to bake the tart shell (after a lifetime of making tart shells, what was I thinking??) First, I had to freeze it, then bake it, then let it cool. Then make the custard, add the melted chocolate (I used Valrhona 61%) and let it cool. Then whip the cream. Then shave some chocolate, try to get a decent photo, eat the subject of the photo, and here I am. Incoherent, but here.

I thought last week's chocolate bread pudding was amazing. Tonight I can hardly remember why I thought that bread pudding was so good because this tart is so rich, so sophisticatedly chocolaty, it's totally captured my heart.

Since I can't seem to put together a coherent sentence, let me just show you a few pictures and then give you the dish count.

The time to remember you're cutting the recipe in half is before you dust the cold butter cubes with the cocoa/flour mixture. Revert to plan B: making the full recipe.

Strain your custard before cooking it. These little yolk bits will interfere with your tart eating pleasure.

The cream cooling in the bowl. Perfect time for a quality control taste. I stressed out a little about the not-velvety texture of my chocolate pastry cream, but I didn't need to worry.

Make sure you leave a little of the cream in the bowl just in case you need another taste.

Oh no. There's a crumb. Quick, eat it.

Much better.

The body count:

Food processor (bowl, blade, lid)

Knife to cut up butter

Several spoons

2 ramekins for egg yolks (plus another for the unused egg whites)

Plastic cutting board to lightly knead the crust

Tart pan

2 whisks

2 spatulas

1 tiny spatula (to get the egg out of the ramekin)

Pan to heat milk

Small plate to rest whisks, spoons, knives, etc. on

Bowl to melt chocolate in

Pan to make custard in 

Strainer (for custard)

Mini strainer (for sifting cornstarch)

3 measuring cups 

Bowl to whip cream in

Beaters from electric mixer (no way I'm getting the KA out to whip 1/2 cup of cream!)

set of measuring spoons

Microplane to grate chocolate

Offset spatula to spread whipped cream

I would do it again in a moment.