A Wedge of Heaven-Chocó Nut n Cherry Tart

I have this theory that chocolate slows down the aging process.... It may not be true, but do I dare take the chance?

And I dare not take this chance on a day that, for all purposes, can drive home the fear of wrinkles [which till now I have been referring to as “laugh lines”] and grey hair [which are tad difficult since I get my hair colored every colour imaginable anyways!!;-) ] !!

Couple of my close friends decided to drop over to spend the day with me..for gossip & giggles and making it easier for me to face my birthday..a day that makes me remember that more than tequila shots, I am on vitamin shots these days!!;-)

I was strictly told by Shuchi and Nachi not to do any cooking or they would not come...i wonder now if it was because they were worried I would slog over a hot stove and strain my back further or they were simply afraid what horror would I conjure up in the name of “Rad’s experiments” and the poor hapless souls would have to eat it to humor me:-p

Since it was my birthday, it was a day that my sweet friends wanted to pamper me..so shuchi got hummus [can still taste the yummy garlicy Lebanese dip on my tongue]

Nachi, superwoman extraordinaire who manages to find time to bake, cook in between working and partying, made pasta in red sauce and low calorie baileys laced custard pudding. And last but not the least, Gauri, a sweetheart whose love for her friends reflects in her baking, made a to-die-for Apple & Cinnamon Cake!

Ok! I am drooling again just remembering all these yummilious offerings fit for Gods!;-)

Well, Back to my favourite subject- my cooking skills [or lack of!!]. I hardly get a chance to experiment as my brother doesn’t like me fiddling with food..i think his internal alarm system relating to dangerous food goes on red alert when he sees me cooking!! So I was happy that I had someone coming over who won’t be able to escape my culinary experiments, however disastrous they might turn out!!

Since it was a day long event, I decided to forgo the usual Indian grub of curries and biryanis and try to cook something that I would like to eat with the Bacardi Black and Smirnoff..after all, if we match the type of wines with the food, why not give importance to hard liquor that it rightly deserves??:-)

Appetizers consisted of Tamarind Prawns and Cocktail Sausages. Shuchi had sweetly prepared Hummus that we enjoyed with Pita Bread.

For Main course, I prepared Meat Lasagna with Garlic Bread and a light summer salad of Beetroot, Apricots topped with Feta Cheese and Fresh Mint.

Loads of fun and laughter in between hogging..and especially when it was a sunday and my brother [Aman] was at home, so can stop from giggling at his inane conversations and TLC channel based worldly food criticism!!!:-))

Now, no meal is complete without dessert..and if the dessert contains creamy, smooth, dark chocolate and fresh tart tasting cherries then who can resist? So, flashback to 2 days before the D-day: head spinning with possibilities of easy to make dessert that would look and taste sinful..and I remember Gauri Jayaram of The Backyard Baker Fame [http://www.backyardbaker.com/] posting a blog entry of an Apple Pie.

So, I mentally removed the apple filling and replaced it with deep dark chocolate..mental block..there has to be something other than chocolate in that tart to make it nutty and to cover it up and I do not like decorating desserts with whipped cream or edible sprinklers because I am baddddd at decorating! Cashewnuts in the cupboard made it easy for the “nutty” component. I decided to run through the list of summer fruits easily available in the market these days and Voila! Cherries-the Red Beautiful Drops of Sweetness and Tartness called out to me--Use Us! Use Us!! Couldn’t refuse their heartfelt need to be used!! This, my dear friends, was the birth of Chocó Nut n Cherry Tart in my Kitchen!:-)

I faced few minutes of frayed nerves when I thought that the basic tart dough I prepared was not going to survive under my loving hands. A frantic call the night before to Gauri to ask as to how should I save the dough that felt and looked like Gouda Cheese relaxed me enough to attempt making the tart base without giving up from word Go!!

A simple, easy recipe of this divine, sinful Dessert that would leave you feeling like you climbed Mt. Everest for all the accolades that your friends and family would bestow upon you...My friends, Shuchi Mehta, Nachiketa Chandra, Pooja Menghani and Gauri Jayaram loved my first time attempt at it and well, it made my day to see huge smiles of bliss on their faces when they took their first bite of my humble offering!!:-)

Chocó Nut n Cherry Tart

Level of Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:-

Short Crust Pastry Base [Adapted from Gauri’s Apple Pie Recipe]

Maida - 200 gms

Butter cut in small cubes and chilled-100 gms

Powdered Sugar – 2 tablespoon

Baking Soda- small pinch

Cold Water-4 to 5 tablespoon to help bind the dough

Flan Dish- 9” to 10” diameter (preferablely loose bottom)

Procedure-

1. Cut cold butter into small similar sized cubes and refrigerate again.
2. Mix together the flour, baking powder and the powdered sugar.
3. Now blend the flour mixture with butter at low intermittent speed in a blender, till the mixture turns crumbly. Remove from the blender into a large plate and combine it with your hands to form a dough. DO NOT KNEAD the dough.
4. Wrap in cling film and keep in the fridge for 15-20 minutes. You can even leave it over night.

Note: if you leave it in fridge overnight or for 4-5 hours, take it out and let it rest at room temperature for 10-15 minutes as the dough would have hardened due to the butter in it.

5. Roll out the dough into a round disk of 1/8th of an inch in thickness. Make sure it covers the base and the sides of the flan dish.
6. Grease the loose bottom flan dish or cover it with butter paper. Spread the pastry in it. Press it down on the sides so that the dough takes the pattern of the mould. Prick lightly with a fork. Keep in the freezer for 10 minutes.

7. Bake at 200 degree in a preheated oven for 20 minutes light golden.
8. Remove pie from the oven and let it cool.

Tart Filling-

Filing consisted of simple Ganache and Cashewnuts. Ganache is a French term referring to a smooth and velvety mixture of chocolate and cream.

Ingredients-

Cashewnuts, Dry Roasted and Roughly Chopped- 50 grams

Chocolate Chips or any good quality sweet dark chocolate- 300 grams or approx 11 ounces

Heavy Cream [I use Amul cream]- 350 ml

Procedure-

1. In a microwave safe medium sized bowl, mix the chocolate and cream together and heat for 30 seconds to a minute, stirring the mixture every 30 seconds till the chocolate is melted. Stir the mixture and let it slightly cool.

2. Mix the cashewnuts in the chocolate cream mixture.

3. Pour this mixture into the pastry base, spreading it evenly with a wooden spoon till it covers it almost to the top.

4. Refrigerate it overnight or for 4-5 hours till the chocolate sets.

Tart Topping-

Ingredients-

Fresh Cherries-150 grams

Cherry Jam – 2 to 3 tablespoon

Sugar- 1 tablespoon

Water- ¼ cup water

Procedure-

1.      Deseed the cherries, taking care that you slit the bottom of the cherry to remove the seed, keeping the shape almost round. Keep a few cherries with stems for decoration purposes

2.      Heat the jam, sugar and water together, bringing it to a boil and let it slightly thicken. Remove from heat and let it cool. It should be liquid syrup consistency.

3.      Arrange the cherries on top of the chocolate tart in concentratic circles, mixing the dark colored cherries, if available, with the lighter colored ones in a way that it looks attractive.

4.      Lightly Brush the cherries with the cherry syrup so that the cherries do not dry up in the fridge.

5.      Chill for further 1-2 hours before serving.

At the time of serving, remove the tart from the dish by placing it on an inverted plate so that the side of flan side falls off easily and the tart can be served in all its glory!!!

My Suggestion: This recipe is eggless and alcohol free. However, you can add some baileys or any other coffee or cherry liquor in the ganache for an extra kick!:-)

Please try it at home and Enjoy!!:-)