Bittersweet Chocolate And Pear Tart Recipes

PEAR AND CHOCOLATE TART

Steps:

• Place the water and lemon juice in a saucepan. Peel the pears, cut them in half and core them. As each is peeled and cored, place it in the saucepan, just covered with water.
• Add one-half cup of the sugar, bring to a simmer and cook gently about 10 minutes, until the pears are just tender. Drain the pears and place them on several thicknesses of paper towel to continue draining.
• Melt the chocolate over hot water or in a microwave oven. Beat in the butter a tablespoon at a time, then beat in the eggs.
• Mix one-third cup of the hazelnuts or almonds with the flour and the remaining sugar and stir into the chocolate mixture.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Sprinkle the remaining hazelnuts or almonds over the bottom of the baked tart shell. Cut each pear half into four thick slices and arrange the slices close together in the tart shell. Spread the chocolate mixture over the pears.
• Bake 30 minutes. Serve warm or cooled to room temperature with whipped cream on the side.

BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE AND PEAR TART

Steps:

• Whisk together the melted butter, sugar and salt. Add flour and ground almonds and stir until it feels like damp sand. Press dough evenly along bottom and halfway up the sides of an 8-inch round tart pan with a removable bottom. Use waxed paper or buttered fingers to even out and press dough tightly into the corners. Prick crust all over with a fork and chill while you preheat oven to 350 degrees about 30 minutes. Set pan on a baking sheet and bake until crust is golden brown, about 25 minutes.
• While crust bakes, bring milk, agave and salt to a simmer in a medium saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat and pour over chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Let it sit for about 2 minutes without stirring. Starting in the middle of bowl, whisk chocolate together until evenly melted and the mixture a smooth and shiny dark brown.
• Fan pear slices around bottom of the tart shell in one even layer. Whisk beaten egg into the chocolate filling and pour filling over pears and crust. Decrease oven temperature to 300 degrees and return tart to oven; bake until filling is set but still a little wiggly in the center third, about 15 minutes. Remove and cool tart completely on a rack at room temperature. Remove tart from pan sides and carefully transfer to a platter. Slice and serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE MINT TART

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Butter the bottom and sides of an 11-inch tart pan with removable bottom; set aside.
• Place hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. Place cooled nuts in food processor. Add 2 tablespoons of the flour and pulse until finely ground. Place the ground nuts, remaining flour, and salt into a large bowl and combine. Combine the confectioners' sugar, brown sugar, and egg yolks. Using a wooden spoon combine the sugars and yolks until sugars dissolve. Add the softened butter and begin to add the flour and nut mixture. When it is well combined, form a ball and knead the dough. Flatten the dough into a disk and wrap it in waxed paper. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Lightly flour the top and bottom of the dough and roll out between 2 sheets of parchment paper. Turn the dough out into the tart shell and press gently to line the sides. Trim the excess from the edge. Freeze the tart shell for 10 minutes.
• Line the inside of the tart shell with aluminum foil. Place 3 cups of dried beans on top of the foil and place the tart shell on the baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the tart shell from the oven. Cool on a rack leaving beans inside. When cool, remove the foil and beans. Reduce temperature to 325 degrees F.
• Place milk in a saucepan. Boil and steep the mint and milk for 10 minutes stirring constantly. Drain and discard the fresh mint. Pour hot milk over chopped chocolate. Let stand for 20 seconds, and then whisk gently. Whisk in the vanilla extract.
• In a large bowl, whisk eggs, yolks, and sugar until blended. Slowly whisk in the chocolate mixture. Using a fine mesh sieve, strain the filling into the cooled pie shell. Bake for 20 minutes or until set. Remove the tart from the oven and cool on a rack. When cool, place in refrigerator until ready to serve.