Last Valentine's day Paul (the husband) cooked us an incredible four course dinner. I tried to convince him to cook again this year, but I guess he thought making a reservation would be easier so we went out to dinner instead. So, we enjoyed these the Sunday night before Valentine's day, although they definitely would have been a perfect Valentine's day dessert. I made and chilled the dough for the crust on Saturday, and the rest of the recipe came together pretty easily on Sunday. I had no idea how long to beat the egg whites (what does until they drip slowly from the beaters mean?), so I just kept beating until they looked pretty light, but it seemed to work. Rolling out the crust was a lot easier than I thought it would be, and I ended up having a lot leftover so I sprinkled some cinnamon sugar on top and baked it off when I pre-baked the tarts. It made for a fun treat.
Warm from the oven, I thought those tarts were incredible. I loved the rich, chocolate flavor. They were like the richest, most fudge-like brownie I've ever had. The only thing I didn't love was the crust. It tasted good, but seemed almost unnecessary, and I couldn't stop myself from thinking about all of the extra calories it added. I'm wondering if these could be made without the crust. The only other thing I would do differently is to try leaving some of the pieces of white and milk chocolate, and some of the biscotti chunks (I actually used some left over chocolate mandel bread that I found in my freezer) out of the batter, and then placing them more decoratively on the top right before baking. Maybe they would sink in anyway (did anybody try this?) but I think it would have made for a prettier picture and presentation. These were incredibly rich, so after eating one the first night and sharing one the next couple of nights, I put two in the freezer. I'm really looking forward to pulling them out sometime soon!
To see what all of the other TWD bakers thought of the tartlets, go here. To see the recipe, visit the pages of our hosts for the week: here, here, here, and here.
What tasty looking tartlets!
ReplyDeleteThese look delicious. Your pictures turned out great. I'm new to blogging and getting the photos right is trickier than it looks.
ReplyDeleteWe used to live near Takoma Park. We were over the line in DC off Alaska Ave. It's a great neighborhood.
Your tarts look delicious! I had a little leftover filling so I baked it in a custard cup with no cup and it was quite good. In the interest of saving calories maybe that's the way to go unless you want the presentation for a special occasion.
ReplyDeleteThat's great to know! I will do that next time :-)
DeleteYour tarts look fantastic, Jora. I love that you can see the chunks in yours. I wondered the same thing when I was beating the eggs and wish there had been more of a description in the recipe.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like these came out beautifully.
ReplyDeleteIf I ever made these over, I would either use a straight tart crust or bake the filling directly in a ramekin. I think it would make a lovely spooned dessert.