Tuesdays With Dorie…Chocolate Cream Tart

Kim of Scrumptious Photography chose Dorie’s Chocolate Cream Tart for us to make this week. Great choice, but I almost didn’t make it. I didn’t have time, really, what with just having done Cookie Carnival and the Daring Baker’s Challenge. I needed a break. But I hate missing Tuesdays With Dorie. It’s the one thing I know that ties me to all of the other great bakers out there on a weekly basis. And, truth be told…even the recipes from Baking:From My Home to Yours that I am not entirely crazy about are still really damn good.

But a Chocolate Cream Tart? Dorie herself compares it to a piece of chocolate pie you would find at a roadside diner. Let me interject here and state the obvious to anyone who made this tart: Are you wondering where on Earth this Roadside Diner is? I mean, for crying out loud – this tart is nothing like a typical diner pie. It is unbelieveable. Truly unbelieveable. I have never had a chocolate pie like this. Ever.

I had a bit of a difficult time with the chocolate tart crust. It was my first time making it, and without a food processor (I know, Susan, pony up and just buy one already) it was a little troublesome for me. It felt too dry and crumbly, so I of course read FAIL. I was wrong. It turned out uber tasty. I pressed it into 4 tartelette pans and baked them off for about 15 minutes, then filled them with the chilled filling. I took a chance and made the filling using half dark chocolate and half Chocolate Orange from Lindt. Oh my, that was a good idea. Just a subtle hint of orange hiding in the silky pudding….yum.

Now, I did not make the whipped topping. I have always loved meringue on top of a pie, and becuase the recipe called for 5 egg yolks, I had 5 eggs whites I needed to do something with. Hence, a big fluffy meringue is perched atop my tarts. I flavored the meringue with a little bit of vanilla as well as a splash of orange extract, which totally changed up the taste of it. So good. I wish all of you could have a bite!

Instead, I am offering you a chance to make it yourself…just comment here and let me know your absolute favorite chocolate to use for baking, and then the chocolate you actually use because your favorite is too expensive. I’ll choose a winner (not by random – my favorite answer!) and announce it via Twitter on Friday, May 1st…which means – Follow Me, people. You’ll win an assortment of chocolate bars from Lindt, Ghiradelli, Frey and World Market (and who knows what else?) So Comment!

Good Luck!

Check back tomorrow for another Giveaway – my Blogiversary is Friday and I’ll be giving away a prize a day until then!