Chocolate Cherry Tart ~ A visit to Chocolate Heaven

Meeting cousins who are holidaying is a delight..... It gives me the opportunity to pamper them with all sorts off goodies. Both my cousin's are studying abroad so when they are back it's party time. My sister has just graduated and this was a celebration of sorts too for a special n extremely hardworking sister.

When asked what they want...... Pat came the reply... something chocolatey without nuts.....

With Stone fruit ~ Cherries in the market, how could I not add their divine flavour to the intensely Chocolate Tart I decided to make. This divine, decadent Chocolate Cherry Tart from my friend Radhika has to be tasted to be believed. It has loads of adaptations as it's a very versatile recipe where the flaours can be varied as per your tastes... n our tastes include loads of Chocolate, Coffee and Bailey's....

Chocolate n Cherry Tart

Short Crust Pastry Base

[Adapted from Gauri’s Apple Pie Recipe]

Ingredients:

Flour- 200 gms

Butter cut in small cubes and chilled-100 gms

Powdered Sugar – 2 tablespoon

Baking Soda- small pinch

Cold Water-4 to 5 tablespoon to help bind the dough

Flan Dish- 9” to 10” diameter (preferablely loose bottom)

Method:

1. Cut cold butter into small similar sized cubes and refrigerate again.

2. Sift together the flour, baking powder and the powdered sugar.

3. Now blend the flour mixture with butter at low intermittent speed in a blender, till the mixture turns crumbly. Remove from the blender into a large plate and combine it with your hands to form a dough. DO NOT KNEAD the dough.

4. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 15-20 minutes. You can even leave it over night.

Note: if you leave it in fridge overnight or for 4-5 hours, take it out and let it rest at room temperature for 10-15 minutes as the dough would have hardened due to the butter in it.

5. Roll out the dough into a round disk of 1/8th of an inch in thickness. Make sure it covers the base and the sides of the flan dish.

6. Grease the loose bottom flan dish or cover it with butter paper. Spread the pastry in it. Press it down on the sides so that the dough takes the pattern of the mould. Prick lightly with a fork. Keep in the freezer for 10 minutes.

7. Bake at 200 degree in a preheated oven for 20 minutes light golden.

8. Remove pie from the oven and let it cool.

Tart Filling:

Filing consisted of simple Chocolate Ganache and Cherries.

Ingredients:

Cherries Chopped in Halved- 50 grams

Cherries for decoration

Chocolate Chips or any good quality sweet dark chocolate- 300 grams or approx 11 ounces

Heavy Cream [I use Amul cream]- 350 ml

Bailey's - 50 ml

Cornstarch - 1 tablespoon

Method:

1. Dissolve the corn starch in 50 ml of cream, keep aside.

2. Gently heat rest of the cream, remove from heat and stir in the chocolate chips, leave them to melt.

3. Add bailey's to the corn starch mixture, stir it well.

4. Add the bailey's and cream mixture to the ganache. Stir the mixture till smooth and let it slightly cool.

5. Place the chopped cherries in the tart shell and pour in the ganache mixture. Spread it evenly till it covers it almost to the top.

6. Refrigerate it overnight or for 4-5 hours till the chocolate sets.

7. decorate with cherries and serve chilled

Mami had a spread for lunch... She followed it up by her famous cheesecake....Took us down memory lane... She's the one who introduced me the to concept of a cheesecake for the first time when we were kids.... Hadn't heard of something so fancy way back then.... Thanks for the initiation mami..... n yes all of us kids use to freak out n rush thru dinner only to get to the dessert course really soon for the cheesecake...

I also knew that these guys are fans of Irish Bailey's because of the Tiramisu I had done for them earlier. The tart proved to be be quite a success....

We forgot who all was watching their weight...

We forgot who was suppose to be having sugarfree...

We forgot that there are some who don't have alcohol......

All we could remember was the crisp tart shell and super chocolatey and melt-in-the-mouth goodness of the filling....

That's the bunch of us..... Mamu, Mami, Cousins, Mom and Vimla Aunty.

Verdict:

It’s a chocoholic delight... like Shut-your-eyes-in-Bliss... on every mouthful.....

We went to chocolate heaven n were forced to comeback after the tart got over..... I was made to promise that I'll make it again.....