Raspberry Chocolate Tart with Biscotti Crust

Posted on February 4, 2009 by kitchenbelle

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This tart is rich, creamy, and delicious!  The biscotti is a nice surprise and it adds some dimension to the dessert.  The filling is so creamy!  And making it is shockingly straightforward.  The only thing I would do differently is I would be more careful when covering with plastic wrap.  As you can see from the photo, the plastic wrap did not go on smooth so little dips in the surface of the filling developed.  However, this subtlety did NOT affect the taste or the presentation.  It is really a lovely dessert—A perfect ending to a dinner party. 

Also, there is something very Valentine’s Day about this dessert.  The berries, the chocolate, the richness.  Spoil your honey–better yet–spoil yourself!

Raspberry Chocolate Tart with Biscotti Crust:

Biscotti Crust:

  • 8 ounces biscotti cookies
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling:

  • 1/3 cup raspberry sauce (recipe follows)
  • 10 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, roughly chopped
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream

Raspberry Sauce:

  • 1 cup fresh or frozen (thawed) raspberries
  • 2 tablespoons sugar

Garnish:

  • Fresh raspberries

Make the biscotti crust

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Generously grease a 9 inch fluted tart pan.

Using your food processor, blender, or Magic Bullet*  puree the biscotti until they are finely ground.  Transfer crumbs to a bowl and add the melted butter.  Stir to combine.  Press the mixture firmly and evenly into the bottom and up the sides of the tart pan.  Bake in preheated oven for 12-18 minutes, or until golden brown.  Remove from oven and cool in the tart pan on a wire rack.

Make the filling

First make the raspberry sauce by pureeing the raspberries in your food fprocessor, blender, or Magic Bullet until smooth.  Pour into a strainer set over a bowl and use a rubber spatula to push the puree through the strainer into the bowl.  The seeds will remain in the strainer.  Add sugar and stir to dissolve.  Set aside.

 

Place chopped chocolate in a bowl and set aside.  In a saucepan, bring heavy whipping cream to a boil.  Immediately pour over chocolate and let sit for five minutes.  Stir until smooth.  Stir in 1/3 cup of the raspberry sauce.

Pour the filling into the cooled tart crust.  Smooth the top with an offset spatula.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Just before serving, top with fresh raspberries! 

Adapted from Joy of Baking.com.

*Do you own a Magic Bullet?  It is a perfect tool for recipes like this tart!  In the time it takes to pull your food processor out, you can have small chopping or pureeing tasks done with the Magic Bullet !   It took literally minutes to puree the biscotti and then the the raspberries.  When working with small quantities, this little gadget is extremely efficient.

Filed under: chocolate, cookies, Dessert, raspberry, tart | 1 Comment »

Black Forest Cookies

Posted on December 14, 2008 by kitchenbelle

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These cookies are delicious!  They are chewy and moist, and the rich chocolate taste is spectacular.  Be careful not to over bake, as at a first glance you may not realize they are done.  (The batter doesn’t really spread like a traditional cookie.)  This recipe yielded 28 cookies.  Enjoy!

Black Forest Cookies:

  • 1  11.5 ounce package milk chocolate morsels*
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 6-ounce package of dried cherries (or Ocean Spray cherry flavored cranberries)

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Delicately melt 3/4 cup of the chocolate over low heat until smooth.  Stir in brown sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla.  Add flour and baking powder, mixing until completely combined.  Carefully stir in the dried cherries and the remaining chocolate morsels.

Drop by spoonful onto a greased and floured cookie sheet.  Bake 12-17 minutes, until firm to the touch.  Cool on cookie sheet for two minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

*I substituted one 3.4 oz bar of Lindt Excellence 70% cocoa intense dark chocolate + 8 oz. semi-sweet morsels.  I think the dark chocolate made these especially rich and delicious.

 

Adapted from recipe by Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc.

Filed under: chocolate, cookies, Dessert | 1 Comment »

Triple Chocolate Pumpkin Pie

Posted on November 28, 2008 by kitchenbelle

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This is a very interesting pie!  Each bite I took left me trying to decide if I found it more “pumpkiny” or more “chocolatey.”  The verdict is out and you will have to make it yourself to decide!  The filling is very smooth and custardy—rich but not overbearing.  The crust is light, crispy, sweet, and delicious.  The bittersweet chocolate in between the crust and the filling offers a nice surprise.  This is anything but your grandmother’s traditional pumpkin pie! 

Triple Chocolate Pumpkin Pie:

Crust

  • 2 cups graham cracker crumbs, finely grated
  • 6 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Filling

  • 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
  • 4 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
  • 1   15 oz. can pumpkin
  • 1   12 oz. can evaporated milk
  • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1.5 teaspoons salt
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 3/4 teaspoon ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • pinch of ground cloves

Topping

  • 1 ounce milk chocolate, melted

Make the crust:

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Combine all crust ingredients in a mixing bowl and toss until thoroughly combined.  Firmly press the mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate.  Bake until firm, about 9-11 minutes.  Remove from oven and sprinkle bittersweet chocolate across the bottom of the crust.  Spread chocolate in a thin layer across the bottom and the sides.  It should be melty enough to spread.  If not, place in the oven for about one minute.

Make the filling:

In a double boiler melt the semi-sweet chocolate and butter.  Stir continuously until smooth.  Remove from heat.  In a large mixing bowl, combine pumpkin, evaporated milk, brown sugar, eggs, cornstarch, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves.  Whisk 1/3 of pumpkin mixture into the chocolate mixture.  Whisk in remaining pumpkin mixture until completely incorporated. 

Place pie dish containing crust on a baking sheet.  Pour filling into crust.  Bake 50-65 minutes, or until center of pie is set, yet still wobbly.  (The cooking time entirely depends on your oven!  I suggest you check after 50 minutes and keep adding time until it is done.)  Let cool completely in pie dish on a wire rack.  Refrigerate at least 8 hours, or overnight.

Make topping

In a double boiler melt milk chocolate until smooth.  Pour into a decorator’s squirt bottle and drizzle on top of pie.  Serve immediately.

Original recipe found on MarthaStewart.com

Filed under: chocolate, Dessert, Fall, pie | 1 Comment »

Rich Chocolate Cupcakes with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting

Posted on October 31, 2008 by kitchenbelle

 Frosted and decorated two ways: Pumpkins/jack-o-lanterns (above) and plainly piped (below). 

Happy Halloween!

 

 Rich Chocolate Cupcakes with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting:

  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/3 cup unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped (or just use morsels)
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 eggs whites at room temperature

Preheat the oven to 325 F.

In a bowl, place butter and chocolate.  Pour water over them and let stand until melted.  Stir to combine.

Add sugar and vanilla and stir again to combine.

Add the sour cream.  Use an electric mixer to beat until fully combined.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and baking soda.

Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet.  Mix until smooth.

In another metal bowl, use a whisk to whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form.  (Note, it is very important that you use a metal non-reactive bowl.  Adding a pinch of cream of tartar or a teaspoon of vinegar will help thicken your egg whites.  This takes some time and your arm might ache a bit!  You’ll know you’re done when you pull the whisk from the whites and a little peak forms and remains upright.)

Gently fold the egg whites into the batter.

Fill the cupcake papers 3/4 full.  (I like to use an ice cream scooper to do this.)

Bake for 20-27 minutes, depending on your oven.

Let cakes cool completely in pan.

Recipe adapted from Crazy About Cupcakes by Krystina Castella, available for purchase here.

Honey Cream Cheese Frosting:

  • 2   8oz. packages cream cheese, softened
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar

Beat all ingredients until light and fluffy.  Hold in the fridge until stiff enough to pipe.

Recipe adapted from RedBook.

Filed under: chocolate, cupcakes, Dessert, Fall | 4 Comments »

Bittersweet Molten Chocolate Cupcakes

Posted on October 11, 2008 by kitchenbelle

It happens sometimes.  OK–I’ll be honest.  It happens a lot.  It doesn’t matter what time it is, how tired I am, whether we have to be somewhere or I have all the time in the world.  Sometimes I get an urge to bake–an urge that won’t be ignored.  I have to succumb!  I don’t have a choice!  And that is why tonight, at an odd and late hour, I made these molten cupcakes.

The recipe doesn’t indicate an approximate time for how long they should be baked.  It simply says “Bake at 350 degrees until the sides of the cupcakes look firm and the centers are still soft.”  I think I missed this by about 3 minutes.  I put them in for 11 minutes.  I should have taken them out but I thought they could use a little bit longer so I added an additional 2 minutes.  (13 minutes total.)  Next time I would keep a closer eye and take them out after about 10 minutes (total).  I think that is the best way to ensure a nice drippy middle.

I think these are a perfect dinner party dessert.  Serve warm out of the oven, individually plated with some ice cream and fresh berries.  And maybe a sprig of mint. Yum!  That is what I will do next time.  But because there were no dinner party guests, there was no ice cream, no fresh berries, no mint, no frosting.  Nope.  Just me and my husband. We ate these tasty simple little cakes as you see them in the photo above–naked!  (The cakes!!!)

Bittersweet Molten Chocolate Cupcakes:

  • 1 and 1/4 sticks butter
  • 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons bittersweet chocolate, chopped
  • 3 eggs
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 3 tablespoons flour, sifted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Carefully melt butter and chocolate in a saucepan.  (Use a double boiler if you wish, or just be very careful not to burn the chocolate.)  Cool for five minutes.

In a large bowl beat the eggs, egg yolks, and sugar with an electric mixer until thick and creamy. (About five minutes.)

Fold the egg mixture into the chocolate until fully incorporated.  Fold in the sifted flour.

Fill the cupcake liners two-thirds full.  Bake until the sides of the cupcakes look firm but their centers are still soft.  (About 10 minutes.  Keep an eye on them!)

Remove from the oven.  Cool for a few minutes then gently remove the liners.  Serve warm with ice cream (or whipped cream) and fresh berries.

Adapted from recipe found in Crazy about Cupcakes by Krystina Castella available for purchase here.

Filed under: chocolate, cupcakes, Dessert | 1 Comment »

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