… and these Thy gifts …

I finally found it again, just in time for Thanksgiving. This is one of the very first things I tried after winning some French tart tins on eBay 13 years ago. Hubby brought it to work for a pot-luck celebration of some sort and came home beaming — people were telling him how good it was and that I should sell it. It is just perfect — the crunch from the nuts, the caramelly stickiness of the honey and cream mixture, the rich all-butter crust and best of all, the simple chocolate glaze that’s just the perfect touch. Any more would be over the top.

from Gourmet, November 1998, p. 170

all-butter pastry dough:

1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) cold unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 to 2 tablespoons ice water

3 cups pie weights or raw rice for weighting shell
1 1/2 cups pecans (about 6 ounces)
1 1/2 cups walnuts (about 6 ounces)
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 ounces fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened)

Accompaniments:
ginger ice cream
cinnamon nutmeg tuiles
Preparation
Preheat oven to 400°F.

Between 2 sheets of wax paper roll out dough into a 14-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick). Transfer dough to a baking sheet and chill 10 minutes. Lift top sheet of wax paper from dough and gently replace on top (this will facilitate removal of paper later). Flip dough over, discarding wax paper now on top, and carefully invert dough into an 11-inch tart pan with a removable fluted rim. Lightly press dough up side of rim, using pieces from overhang to patch any holes. Chill shell 30 minutes, or until firm.

Line shell with foil, folding over edge to cover pastry entirely, and fill with pie weights or raw rice. Bake shell on a baking sheet in middle of oven 35 minutes and carefully remove foil and weights or rice. If bottom of crust still has patches of translucent undercooked dough, return shell to oven without foil and weights or rice and bake until pastry is completely cooked and golden, 3 to 5 minutes more. Cool shell in pan on a rack.

Reduce temperature to 350°F.

Coarsely chop nuts. In a 3-quart heavy saucepan melt butter with brown sugar and honey, stirring, and simmer 1 minute. Stir in nuts and cream. Simmer mixture 1 minute and pour into shell. Bake tart on baking sheet in middle of oven 30 minutes, or until filling is a few shades darker. Cool tart in pan on rack.

Chop chocolate and in a double boiler or a metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water melt chocolate, stirring until smooth. Cool chocolate slightly and transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a #3 plain tip (slightly smaller than 1/8 inch). (Alternatively, transfer chocolate to a small heavy-duty sealable plastic bag. Squeeze chocolate into one corner of bag and with scissors cut a tiny slice off corner to form a small hole.) Pipe thin lines of chocolate over tart in a back and forth motion to form stripes. Tart may be made 2 days ahead and chilled, covered.

Will update with a photo after I make it again come November! Some diners are about to get really really lucky.

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A repost from my old baking blog…

The finished product. Sorry for the grease spots on the lens. We were in a hurry to get to the party!

Black Forest Cake / Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte

Elements here, bottom to top:

• the turntable/cake stand
• The baking circles or rounds, and the doily
• the cake layers
• the ganache
• the cherry filling
• the chocolate curls
• and — uh,oh — I guess I forgot the whipped cream portion.

  Here you go: an excellent tutorial from egullet.org. Except I don’t use gelatin sheets in mine. Just straight up whip the cream, add sugar (confectioners and regular both work for me fine, maybe I’m not that discerning a baker, eh?), any flavoring I want, like a bit of extract or liqueur. I guess mine is (more accurately) what’s called Chantilly Cream.

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A repost from my old baking blog.

1 14.5 oz. can tart cherries (not cherry pie filling)
water if necessary
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch

Drain cherries, reserving liquid. Set cherries aside. Measure liquid — you need 1/2 cup; add water if necessary. Add sugar and cornstarch to liquid and whisk until dissolved. Transfer to a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, or until thickened. Remove from heat and fold in cherries. Refrigerate until needed, up to 24 hours.

This cherry filling can be used for cakes or pies. I prefer this method to buying ready-made pie filling because I’m trying to avoid food coloring and other artificial ingredients. If canned cherries are unavailable you can use dried cherries instead. Rehydrate them, then make this filling. The texture will be a different, but the flavor will be excellent nonetheless.

You can also use canned sweet bing cherries instead of the tart Montmorency or Morello, but certain preparations call for the sour cherry, e.g., traditional Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte or Black Forest Cake, coming soon.

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A repost from my old baking blog.

I have several go-to recipes when I need a chocolate cake from scratch. This is my favorite — it’s so easy!

Cooking spray for pans
Cake flour or cocoa powder for dusting
4 ounces (120 g) unsweetened chocolate

1/2 pound (230 g) unsalted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups (280 g) cake flour
2 cups (400 g) sugar (you can use a little less, about 1 1/2 cups, if you want a less sweet cake)
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk (I usually use whole, but have tried 2% and 1% and the cake still came out good)
4 eggs

Equipment: Parchment rounds, 8- or 9-inch round cake pans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray pans with cooking spray and flour (or use cocoa powder, which I like for chocolate cakes) cake pans. Melt chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl or measuring cup, in 15-30 second intervals, until smooth. (Alternatively, do this in a double boiler or in a heavy-bottomed pan over low heat — watch carefully to make sure chocolate doesn’t burn.) In a bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Add chocolate mixture, milk and eggs and beat until smooth. Pour, distributing evenly, into prepared pans, and bake for 25-30 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean and cake starts to pull from the sides of the pan. Cool in pans on racks for 5 minutes before turning out onto racks. The cakes are ready to be frosted at this point, or cool completely and wrap in plastic wrap then foil if freezing for future use. The cakes can also be wrapped and refrigerated for a few days before using.

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