two tarts

Each year, the Berkeley University Ward puts on a "Sub-for-Santa" dinner and actions off all sort of donations to the members of the Stake.  Donations range from music lessons to sailboat rides, handmade quilts to dates with cute girls in the ward.  And for dessert, a wide variety of fancy tasties are brought in and auctioned as well.  Proceeds go to buy presents for less fortunate kids in Oakland.  This year's event happened this past Saturday and was a blast.  We made over 9k total.

I liked the texture of the lighter tart better and am plotting to make a recipe combining the two: a light textured orange chocolate tart with an almond crust.  I'll experiment over the holidays.  The original recipes are below.

Lime White Chocolate Tart

Ingredients
Crust

3/4 c. flour

1/3 c almonds, toasted

1/3 c. powdered sugar

 1/4 tsp salt

6 Tablespoon chilled unsalted butter cut into 1/2" pieces

Filling

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1/2 tsp unflavored gelatin

3/4 cup chilled whipping cream

5 oz good quality white chocolate, chopped

1 teaspoon grated lime peel

2 Tablespoons sugar

2 Tablespoons sour cream

Topping

about a pint of berries or fruit

(raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, and nectarines all work well)

Directions

Crust: Blend first four ingredients in food processor until nuts are ground but small pieces remain.  Add butter and pulse until mixture is the consistency of fine meal.  Add water by the teaspoon until it clumps.  Gather dough into a ball and press evenly and up sides of a 9" diameter tart pan.  Freeze 30 minutes until firm.  Bake 30 min at 375 F.  Transfer to rack and cool.

Filling:  Put lime juice in a small bowl, sprinkle with gelatin and let sit 10 min.  Meanwhile, bring 1/4 c cream to a simmer in a small saucepan; reduce to low and add white chocolate and stir until smooth.  Add gelatin/lime juice, stir, and mix in lime peel.  Chill until mixture begins to cool and thicken, stirring often, about 45 minutes.  Beat sugar, sour cream, and remaining 1/2 c cream to medium soft peaks in medium bowl.  Fold into white chocolate mixture.

Assembly: Spoon filling into crust and chill 4 hours.  Arrange berries or fruit on top and drizzle 1/4 c melted jam on berries. 

Chocolate Cinnamon Tart

Ingredients

Crust

2 cups pecans (about 8 ounces), toasted (can usually buy them that way)

6 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Filling

3/4 cup whipping cream

6 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped

Topping

2 1/2-pint baskets raspberries

1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam

Directions

Crust: Preheat oven to 325 F.  Finely grind pecans, sugar and cinnamon in a food processor.  Add butter and process until moist clumps form.  Press dough onto bottom and up sides of four 4-inch-diameter tart pans with removable bottoms.  Bake until golden brown and firm to touch, about 30 minutes.  Transfer to rack and cool completely.

Filling: Bring cream to simmer in heavy medium saucepan.  Remove from heat.  Add chocolate; stir until melted and smooth.

Assembly: Pour mixture into crusts, dividing equally.  Chill until set, about 1 hour.  Arrange raspberries over tops of tarts.  Stir jam in small saucepan over low heat until melted.  Brush melted jam over raspberries.