Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart

So, the other day, for Tuesdays with Dorie, I mentioned the whole issue with being unable to decide between making a chocolate crust or the regular Sweet Tart Dough. What I may not have mentioned was that I decided to make one big tart with the other halves of the dough that were leftover after the mini strawberry tarts. I knew I wanted to fill this with something like the Tarte Noir for Blake Bakes because I've been craving another piece of that ever since I polished the other one off. In recognition of the duality of the crust though, I wanted to do something a little different with the filling too.

A while back I made some Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffle Cupcakes for Sugar High Friday, and ever since I made those I've craved them too. The thing about these cupcakes is that, while the cake is fabulous and the ganache frosting was perfect - it is the peanut butter truffle that I keep dreaming about. It was just a simple concoction of melted white chocolate and peanut butter, but it was so good I knew that its time had arrived once again.

So, my friends, that is how we have arrived at this Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart (yes, with the problematic "dalmatian" crust - just shut your eyes and don't peek while you eat if this is too dizzying - you know who you are LOL ; )

Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart
(Portions adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours)

For the Sweet Tart Dough:
3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons) very cold (or frozen) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 of one large egg yolk, beaten (you will use the other half in the other crust)

Put the flour, confectioners’ sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse a couple of times to combine. Scatter the pieces of butter over the dry ingredients and pulse until the butter is coarsely cut in – you should have some pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and some the size of peas.

Stir the yolk, just to break it up, and add it a little at a time til you've added about half the yolk, pulsing after each addition. When the egg is in, process in long pulses – about 10 seconds each – until the dough , which will look granular soon after the egg is added, forms clumps and curds. Just before you reach this stage, the sound of the machine working the dough will change – heads up. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and, very lightly and sparingly, knead the dough just to incorporate any dry ingredients that might have escaped mixing. Wrap in a small piece of plastic and set aside while you prepare the chocolate dough.

For the Chocolate Dough:
1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/8 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 cup confectioners' sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, very cold or frozen, cut into small pieces
1/2 of one large egg yolk, beaten (remainder from the other dough)

Put the flour, cocoa, confectioners’ sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse a couple of times to combine. Scatter the pieces of butter over the dry ingredients and pulse until the butter is coarsely cut in – you should have some pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and some the size of peas.

Stir the yolk, just to break it up, and add it a little at a time til you've added about half the yolk, pulsing after each addition. When the egg is in, process in long pulses – about 10 seconds each – until the dough , which will look granular soon after the egg is added, forms clumps and curds. Just before you reach this stage, the sound of the machine working the dough will change – heads up. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and, very lightly and sparingly, knead the dough just to incorporate any dry ingredients that might have escaped mixing.

TO PRESS THE DOUGH INTO THE PAN:
Butter a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the doughs evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan in whatever random pattern you choose, using all but one little piece of each dough, which you should save in the refrigerator to patch any cracks after the crust is baked. Don’t be too heavy-handed – press the crust in so that the edges of the pieces cling to one another, but not so hard that the crust loses its crumbly texture. Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes, preferably longer, before baking.

TO FULLY BAKE THE CRUST:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil and fit the foil, buttered side down, tightly against the crust. (Since you froze the crust, you can bake it without weights.) Put the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake the crust for 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil. If the crust has puffed, press it down gently with the back of a spoon. Bake for another 8 minutes or so, or until it is firm and golden brown – just make sure to keep a close eye on the crust’s progress – it can go from golden to way too dark in a flash.) Transfer the tart pan to a rack and cool the crust to room temperature before filling.

TO PATCH, IF NECESSARY:
If there are any cracks in the baked crust, patch them with some of the reserved raw dough as soon as you remove the foil. Slice off a thin piece of the dough, place it over the crack, moisten the edges and very gently smooth the edges into the baked crust. Bake for another 2 minutes or so, just to take the rawness off the patch.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Ganache Filling

For the Filling:
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 2 pieces, at room temperature

3 oz. white chocolate, chopped
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

Put the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl and have a whisk or a rubber spatula at hand.
Bring the cream to a boil, then pour half of it over the chocolate and let it sit for 30 seconds.

Working with the whisk or spatula, very gently stir the chocolate and cream together in small circles, starting at the center of the bowl and working your way out in concentric circles. Pour in the remainder of the cream and blend it into the chocolate, using the same circular motion. When the ganache is smooth and shiny, stir in the butter piece by piece. Don’t stir the ganache any more than you must to blend the ingredients – the less you work it, the darker, smoother and shinier it will be. Set aside to cool a bit while you prepare the peanut butter truffle mixture.

In a heat-proof bowl, over a pan of simmering water, place the white chocolate and peanut butter, stir together until just melted and smooth. It will be much thicker than the dark chocolate ganache.

Pour the dark chocolate ganache into the crust and, holding the pan with both hands, gently turn the pan from side to side to even the ganache. Allow to cool and rest on the counter for 2 minutes before adding the peanut butter mixture.

Using a small spoon, gently drop small dollops of the peanut butter truffle mixture in dots all over the ganache layer. Use a thin knife to gently cut through the dollops to create a marbled and swirled effect. Do not stir too much or you will just stir it into the dark chocolate which is more liquid.

Refrigerate the tart for 30 minutes to set the ganache, then remove the tart from the fridge and keep it at room temperature until serving time. (Note – don’t cut right into it because the ganache won’t be set yet - let it set up for a couple of hours).

Makes 8 servings.