Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart

Pre-peanut butter!  How shiny is that ganache!?

This decadent little gem of a desert was one that I made for Kenzie's birthday. We were going out to dinner and dessert since her 25th fell on a Friday, but my mom still wanted me to make a cake or something to offer aunts, uncles, grandmothers, etc. who may be stopping by before we left at 7:00. I just wasn't in the mood for a cake, though. I stopped at the grocery store and sat there in my car, googling dessert ideas, and then when I re-discovered Annie's Eats' recipe for a chocolate peanut butter tart, I knew I was ready to bake! Annie had posted this back in the summer, and I thought it looked amazing, and frankly pretty easy too. You have to make a chocolate crust and bake it in the tart pan (it was my first time using my pie weights! Wahoo!). Then you make a really simple chocolate ganache (pour hot cream into chocolate. Wait. Stir! That's it!) and pour it on. Then melt some peanut butter in a microwave, pipe it onto the tart, and use a toothpick to marble it. And then you're done! Well, then you have to chill it, and by the time mine was chilled, it was time for everyone to leave, so no one ate it until the next day,



Note the peanut butter on the stove... ohhhh Mom!

The end result is a dessert that feels almost more like candy than a baked good. The crunchy chocolate crust is a good texture contrast to the smooth, creamy filling. It kind of tastes like a big peanut butter cup. It's very rich - you don't want to cut more than a little sliver. But it is good. And it is so pretty! My mom helped with the decorating; make sure when you marble the peanut butter, you just zig zag a toothpick through the peanut butter lines. At first Mom was swirling all over the place, and that side of the tart looks a little uglier than the other!

Bad swirling!!!

Unfortunately there is still a lot left here; my mother is not a chocolate/peanut butter person, and Kenzie said it "made her thirsty." Whatever that means. Nick has eaten quite a bit of it and says that it's great; the Cormiers were big fans too. Although there is really only one member of my family who has adored this tart more than anyone else, and that is Neely Mouse. He has never been so excited to eat anything in his year and a half of life! He usually hides any treats that he gets to eat later, but he is too ecstatic about the tart and eats it right away :) So if you have to make a birthday cake for a mouse any time soon, this is my recommendation. Or, if you happen to have a peanut butter/chocolate lover, and you have a couple hours to allow for all the cooling and chilling time, make this delicious, sweet, rich, beautiful and easy tart!

Muuuch better :)

Recipe:

chocolate peanut butter tart

from Annie's Eats

Ingredients:

For the crust:
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
¼ tsp. salt
¼ cup sugar
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. heavy cream

For the filling:
¾ cup creamy peanut butter, divided
5 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
¾ cup heavy cream

Instructions:

1) To make the crust, combine the flour, cocoa powder, and salt in a small bowl. Whisk to blend. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Blend in the egg and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients alternating with the cream, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. The dough will be quite soft. Transfer the dough to a piece of plastic wrap, form into a rectangle, and wrap tightly. Chill until firm, at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.

 

 

2) Transfer the chilled dough to a well floured work surface. Roll the dough out into a 7 x 16-inch rectangle and fit into a 4½ x 14-inch rectangular tart pan, pressing the dough into the edges of the pan (FYI, my pan was much smaller than this, and it worked just fine; I just had a little extra dough) . Trim away any excess. Prick all over the surface of the dough with the tines of a fork. Freeze the lined tart pan until the dough is firm, about 30 minutes.

 

 

3) Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line the crust with parchment paper and fill with baking beads, dried beans or rice. Bake until the edges are set, about 20 minutes. Remove the weights and parchment and bake 5-10 minutes more. Let cool completely, about 30 minutes.

 

 

4) To make the filling, place ½ cup of the peanut butter in a small microwave-safe bowl. Heat until fluid, about 20-30 seconds. Pour into the bottom of the tart crust and smooth into an even layer. Freeze until the peanut butter is firm, about 20 minutes. Place the chopped chocolate in a medium bowl. Bring the cream just to a boil. Pour over the chocolate and let sit 1-2 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the remaining ¼ cup of peanut butter until fluid. Transfer to a plastic bag. Whisk the chocolate mixture together until a smooth ganache forms. Pour the ganache into the tart shell in an even layer. Snip a small tip off of the corner of the plastic bag and pipe the peanut butter in diagonal lines on top of the ganache. Use a toothpick or skewer to marble them gently together. Chill until well set, at least 1 hour and up to 8 hours. Slice and serve.

Happy birthday, Kenz!  I'll forgive you for eating someone else's cake ;)