Culinary Arts Lab: Chocolate

Remote high school wrapped up this week, and Erik's assignment in Culinary Arts was to make something using chocolate, then taste it and review the creation. How did it smell, taste, look? What was the texture like? Was it balanced? Would you make it again, and if so, would you change anything? 

His teacher made brownies on Teams, with her two adorable young sons as helpers during class, but she encouraged the students to make anything they had ingredients for at home. We happened to have almost everything to make this recipe (that inspired me to buy the December copy of Real Simple), but I'd never gotten around to making the recipe for a holiday dessert. So, this was the perfect excuse to take this for a test drive, and Erik says that he would definitely make this again because it was "really good." He's right. It is really good. Delicious, balanced, easy and elegant. Fancy without too much work. Enjoy!!

Chocolate Ganache Tart

adapted from Real Simple magazine, December 2021

12 servings (or 16 smaller portions)

Crust ingredients

60 Ritz crackers 200 grams (almost 2 sleeves worth)

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

1 Tbs. sweetener of choice (we used an erythritol/monkfruit blend, but Real Simple used powdered sugar)

 

Filling ingredients

1 cup extra dark or bittersweet chocolate chips (we used Ghirardelli 72% cacao chips)

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/8 tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. vanilla (always use real extract)

4 Tbs. unsalted butter, softened

Maldon flaky sea salt for serving

Preheat oven to 350-degrees F. Erik smashed the crackers in a gallon ziplock bag, with a rolling pin, then mixed the crumbs in a bowl with the melted butter and sweetener. Next, dump the crust mixture (that will look like wet sand) into a 9-inch tart pan. Press firmly, up the sides and into the bottom. Bake for 10 minutes, then take out to cool completely.It will be golden and smell toasty and nutty. 

For the filling, Real Simple used a double-boiler method, which is fine, but for speed and easy clean-up, Erik opted for heating the cream in the microwave for 4 minutes, then whisked in the salt, and then the chocolate chips in two parts. Next, add the butter, one tablespoon at a time, and whisk well. Finally, mix in the vanilla, and let the ganache cool for about 30 minutes before pouring it into the cooled crust. 

Chill the tart, uncovered for at least two hours before serving, and sprinkle with Maldon flaky sea salt to finish/serve. I loved this touch, but Erik thought it was unnecessary. You could certainly let people adorn their own slices. 

Using the sweetener, and the Ghirardelli chips, this tart clocked in at 13g carbs per slice (at the 1/12 size portions) and only 4 g of sugar (1 g from the Ritz and 2.6 g from the chocolate). Is there a lot of butter and cream? Yep, but it's a delicious and decadent dessert (about 1 Tbs. butter per slice and only 1.5 Tbs of cream per serving, so really, not that bad overall).