Monday, April 27, 2009

TWD: CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT CREAM TART


Kim of Scrumptious Photography chose this weeks TWD recipe. Side note: Kim's blog is incredible. The title speaks for itself. Anywayyyyyy, I've had my eye on this chocolate cream tart since I bought the book over a year ago so I was psyched when I saw this weeks selection. I'm not even sure why I've wanted to make this considering I'm not really into tarts that consist of some sort of pastry cream filling, but I enjoy baking and creating tarts immensely. Strange, I know.

First of all, this sweet chocolate tart crust is fantastic. It has a shortbread consistency with a touch of chocolate flavoring. It's crumbly, buttery, and not overly sweet thus allowing the filling to really shine. I used my best Valrhona cocoa powder which really makes the difference here.

As for the filling, I wanted to alter the flavors a tad by adding hazelnut. The chocolate filling was a cinch to make and it was velvety, smooth, and rich. I used Sharffen Berger bittersweet chocolate which was really delicious to eat plain ;) Before spooning the chocolate filling into the baked and cooled tart shell, I spread a thin layer of Nutella, followed by filling, garnished with whipped cream, drizzled with chocolate syrup and a sprinkle of toasted hazelnuts. Whoa, that was a mouthful. Wallah! The most beautiful tasty chocolate hazelnut cream tart I've ever had, hands down! This recipe brought my love for chocolate tarts to surface! For the recipe, visit Kim's blog.

16 comments:

Kara said...

Oh holy smokes. I got to the bit about the thin layer of Nutella and I started drooling. What a great tweak to this recipe. I liked this one to begin with, but I'm realizing that I might have to play around with variations now!

Leslie said...

Adding Nutella is very inspired! Yours looks amazing! I'm so glad you liked it, too.

The Food Librarian said...

Oh oh oh my. This is so stunning! Great job. Love how you piped the whipped cream!

Engineer Baker said...

I love the hazelnut / chocolate combo - it's always so wonderful! And the tart, it's just so elegant!

Ingrid_3Bs said...

Your photos are outstanding. You did a marvelous job on the decorating of it too!
~ingrid

vibi said...

Ahhhh Nutella! Why didn't I think of that! Ingenious! and probably soooo tasty!

I'm sure I'm gonna dream about this tart tonight! darn...

Megan said...

Nutella? You are my idol. I bow at your Nutella jar.

Stroke of genius - I love it.

Snooky doodle said...

oh this look delicious. I would surely lick the plate after I ve finished eating this :)

Monica H said...

This looks so decadent. Great job!

cookies and cups said...

That looks gorgeous and delicious!!

chocolatechic said...

I didn't have hazelnuts, but I did have hazelnut coffee creamer, so I used some of that.

Great minds...think alike.

Chris said...

Nutella is a brilliant addition with the hazelnuts . Looks fabulous!

How To Eat A Cupcake said...

Oh My Gosh! This looks so gorgeous! You really deserve a pat on the back! I'm drooling! ;D

kimberly salem said...

You are a baking genius! The nutella sounds amazing, and I love the piped whipped cream. Lovely! Thanks for the kind words about my blog too! :)

Bungalow Barbara said...

Drool, drool! That looks so luscious! The hazelnut/Nutella variation sounds great.

Unknown said...

Wow, what a wonderful variation!! You've decorated your tart so elegantly!