Saturday, June 23, 2007

Can it get better than gorgeous fresh strawberries and lots of chocolate?

I mentioned in yesterday's post about a sweet treat I made involving strawberries and chocolate, but it needed to rest in the refrigerator first before we snapped a couple photos. Because of the time involved with chilling, I would suggest making this Strawberry-Chocolate Tart a day before you want to serve it, unless you make it early enough in the day.

The cookie-like crust for this tart comes together in a snap - it is simply made from rolled oats, granulated sugar and salt that are mixed in a food processor until the oats are finely ground. Chilled chunks of butter are added and after a couple tablespoons of icy water, the crust came together in no time. The best part of this dough? No rolling it out! You just scoop it into the bottom of a tart pan and use your hands to easily mash it over the bottom and up the sides.Since the filling is cooked in a saucepan, the crust does need to be fully baked before being filled.

The ultra-smooth custard filling is made from milk, sugar, Dutch-processed cocoa powder for a smooth chocolate flavor and cornstarch to thicken the mixture. A splash of vanilla and a handful of bittersweet chocolate chunks are added off-heat and stirred into the mix until the chocolate disperses into the filling. After filling the crisp golden crust, a layer of beautiful sweet strawberries are assembled over the dark slick of rich chocolate custard. The filling needs as much time in the refrigerator that you can give it - this allows the filling to set up correctly so your sliced tart pieces will be clean and hold up well.

My only concern is after the 8 hours in the refrigerator, the bottom crust was not as crisp as the sides were - I wonder if you gave the crust a quick brush with a beaten egg white, before baking, would be enough to protect it and prevent the softening. Soft crust or not, this was completely swoon-worthy for being a fairly light recipe - just be sure to use the best strawberries you can get your hands on. We ended up going to a local u-pick farm and picked a couple baskets worth for ours - because you know... while we were assembling it went something like one for the tart, two for me!


11 comments:

  1. Oh, yum. There is nothing better that strawberries and chocolate for dessert. I can't wait to make this!

    ReplyDelete
  2. "Swoon-worthy" -- I love your adjectives. I believe this would fit that perfectly. Beautiful, simply beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Erin - That is for sure... it is one of our favorite combinations!

    Anj - Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Joe, this look very delicious! I am another fan of strawberries and chocolate together!
    Is this from the new CL issue? I think I might have missed this one, but am now adding to my list ot make!
    I love the idea of the oatmeal crust, it looks so good! (just love oats!)
    The filling sounds like a chocolate pudding from your description, is it right? At first I thought it would be a ganache!
    Nice tart, really pretty Joe!
    Ana

    ReplyDelete
  5. I too raise my hand for choc and strawberries. Combining them in a tart is spectacular. Looks great.

    ReplyDelete
  6. It looks mouthwatering, Joe!
    I love strawberries and they go so well with chocolate!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Joe, I so wish I had your presentation skills. Of course on this dessert it may not matter as I think I would dive into it fairly quickly. We have had a good batch of strawberries around here even at the regular grocery store. I think I will try this one this weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a beautiful presentation! Looks delicious too!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Ana - it is from the june issue! It is kind of like a pudding, but it is more firm like a custard!

    Meeta - Thanks!

    Patricia - Thank you!

    Laura - I get lots of pratice since we bake so often... hee hee!

    Barbara - It was!

    ReplyDelete
  10. That looks gorgeous, Joey! I haven't paired strawberries & chocolate yet this year, but it'll surely change!

    ReplyDelete