Chocolate Whiskey Tart

 

 

This tart contains two of my favorite components related to baking:

 

Chocolate with booze (or anything with booze)

and

Recipes from Baked 

If you're not familiar with Baked, ooooh you are missing out.  Baked, a bakery located in Brooklyn was founded in 2005 by two friends Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. These guys know, understand, and appreciate 'Americana' baking.  You may remember my Gentleman's Apple Pie post, another recipe from the Baked, New Frontiers in Baking cookbook.

The guys just came out with their 3rd cookbook titled Baked Elements which features recipes prepared with their all-time favorite ingredients and each chapter is dedicated to a particular ingredient close to their heart.

This Chocolate Whiskey Tart (from the Booze chapter...amazing!) is one of the most sinful desserts I've made yet.  The chocolate is smooth, deep, and rich.  I've never tasted chocolate quite this intense, mostly due in part to the addition of Jack Daniel's, amping up the flavor and richness.  The crust (made of shortbread cookies) is crisp and slightly salty, contrasting effortlessly with the smoothness of the chocolate.

And then the whipped cream...infused with Jack Damn Daniel's.  I got a buzz before lunchtime preparing this cream.  Highly recommended if you ask me.

Lastly, this tart was beyond easy.  Don't roll your eyes at me and say 'yeh right you bake all the time.'  Really, nothing to it I swear.    However, I must make one very important note before we get baking.  Please do yourself a favor and purchase a high quality chocolate for this recipe.  As we're not working with many ingredients, the taste of the chocolate will inherently shine through and it's quality is key to achieving a silky texture. 

Ok I know I once told you it's okay to buy chocolate from Ikea, but that's for practicing or making s'mores.  This tart deserves a little splurge.

Simple Chocolate Whiskey Tart with Whiskey Whipped Cream
makes one 9" tart
printable version

Ingredients

For the Shortbread crust:
8 ounces (about 1 3/4 cups) shortbread cookies
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 ounces (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For the Chocolate Whiskey Filling:
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup whole milk
5 ounces good quality dark chocolate (60 to 72%), coarsely chopped
4 ounces good quality milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 large egg PLUS 1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons good quality whiskey (I used Jack Daniel's)

For the Whiskey Whipped Cream:
1 1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons superfine sugar
2 tablespoons good quality whiskey (I used Jack Daniel's)

cocoa for dusting

Directions

To prepare the crust, preheat oven to 300 degrees F and position the oven rack in the center.  Lightly spray a 9" spring form pan with non-stick cooking spray.

In a food processor, pulse the cookies into very fine crumbs. 

 

Place crumbs into a bowl, add sugar and salt. Stir to combine.

 

 

 Pour melted butter over the crumbs and use a fork to mix to combine. 

Turn the mixture out onto the prepared pan and press it into the bottom and up the sides of the pan (using your fingers or the bottom of a metal measuring cup).

Place pan in the freezer for about 5 minutes to firm up.

Place the pan on a baking sheet and bake the crust until it is just dry to the touch, about 12 minutes (you do not want it to brown).  Remove the baking sheet from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

Increase the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.

To prepare the filling, in a medium saucepan oven medium low heat, stir together the heavy cream and milk.  Bring the mixture just to a low simmer (bubbles will start to form around the edge of the pan) but do not scald or boil.  Remove the pan from the heat.  Add the chopped chocolate and whisk gently until the mixture is completely smooth. 

Continue stirring to release excess heat.  Set aside for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the mixture is only slightly warm or has cooled to room temperature.

In a small bowl, use a fork to lightly beat the egg, egg yolk, flour, and whiskey. 

 

 

Use the tip of your finger to make sure the chocolate mixture has come to room temperature (not too hot or the eggs will cook).  Add the egg mixture and whisk until completely blended.

Pour the filling into the tart shell.

Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges are slightly set but the middle is still slightly jiggly.  Remove the baking sheet from the oven and transfer the tart pan to a wire rack to cool for at least 15 minutes.  Gently push up on the tart bottom to release the tart from the pan and cool completely.

To prepare the whipped cream, pour the cream into a chilled metal bowl and beat vigorously with a chilled whisk for about 1 minute or until soft peaks form (I mix on max speed on a kitchen aid mixer).

 Sprinkle the sugar and whiskey over the cream and continue whisking vigorously until stiff peaks form.

 Give your tart a generous dollop of cream, dust with cocoa and enjoy!

 

 Chocolate Whiskey Tart recipe from Baked Elements