It's an irony that this tart has such a mouthful of a name. The name ticks off each component one by one, getting longer and longer in the process: Strawberry tart. Mascarpone cream. Dark chocolate bits. Toasted oat crust. Oh, and my own addition: fudgy chocolate ganache.
And yet, surprisingly, this was one of the easiest, quickest, and most impressive desserts I've made in recent memory. It's firmly on the summer menu now, as often as I can squeeze it in. Why? Read on to hear how easy this is.
This tart has several components, but each of them are foolproof, delicious, and easy. I saw the recipe in Joanna's nationwide newspaper roundup then promptly made it for a dinner party last weekend. I was so happy with how it turned out. It has a firm, crunchy shortbread crust made with toasted oats and brown sugar, which makes it much more interesting (in my opinion) than traditional shortbread. And the batch is relatively small, so you can make it in even a three-cup food processor, like my little chopper. So quick and easy! The dough comes together in five minutes.
Then the filling is also quick: just whipped cream, a little sugar, softened mascarpone, and chocolate shavings. Top with a pint of strawberries, sliced and macerated in just a touch of balsamic vinegar, and you're done.
The only real change I made was an addition of ganache. The tart, rich as it is, needed to feed 8 people, and I wanted to bulk it up just slightly. Also, I wanted to prepare it ahead of time, but I was concerned that the cream would make the crust too soft if I left the assembled tart sitting in the fridge for a few hours. A dark chocolate ganache protects the crust and adds yet another layer of richness as well as an additional texture between the crunchy shortbread and creamy filling.
I melted equal amounts of cream and dark chocolate (about half a cup of each) and whisked until smooth, then poured it into the crust and let it cool. Then I spread the filling inside, and topped with strawberries and chocolate curls just before serving.
So delicious - crunchy, toasty, creamy, chocolatey, and with a mountain of fresh red ripe berries on top. (I found sweet local strawberries, which just put this over the top.) This is totally a recipe worth trying, and it elevates fresh strawberries to new heights. Plus, it looks spectacular without really trying, which doesn't hurt.
• Get the recipe: The New Strawberries and Cream at The Oregonian
Related: National Food Roundup: The New Strawberries and Cream
(Images: Faith Durand)
Does anyone know, when making ganache is the chocolate being tempered--I imagine it wouldn't need to be because the cream would make it silky-smooth anyway? I've never made it, but I might, because this looks delightful!
view clox sox's profile
@clox sox I think tempering is a different process, one where you raise the chocolate to a very specific temp, lower it down again to something in the high 90s and then raise it again. I'm pretty sure it only affects the room-temperature texture, which adding cream is going to change from the great snap of good chocolate to the smooth softness of truffle filling.
I should try this recipe for 4th of July. I think I'll toss the berries in whiskey and sugar, though. My mom did that to serve over pound cake and it was amazing.
view Tiamat_the_Red's profile
Ganache isn't tempered chocolate. You would temper chocolate so you could reform melted chocolate and have it come out shiny and hard.
An easy way to make the ganache is to heat the cream in the microwave then add broken chocolate pieces to it. You might have to let it sit or nuke it for 30 more seconds. Good luck.
view twosavoie's profile
This is far and away my new favorite tart crust!! I didn't have berries or marscapone so I topped it with just apricots and sugar and baked until the apricots where charred. It tasted like the best "upside down" fruit crisp ever!
view luv2eat's profile