Mexican chocolate tart with cinnamon-spiced pecans
My lab's winter warm-up party prompted the making of this particular dessert. I was glad to have an excuse to try it as well as a captive audience to try it out on. I'd long had this recipe ear-marked and actually finally remembered to buy Ibarra chocolate, which is a type of Mexican chocolate that is flavoured with cinnamon.
Recipe
adapted from Bon Appetit DessertsPecans1 large egg white2 tbsp sugar1 tbsp packed golden brown sugar1 tsp ground cinnamon¼ tsp salt⅛ tsp cayenne pepper1½ cups pecan halvesCrust9 whole graham crackers, broken½ cup pecans, toasted¼ cup packed dark brown sugargenerous pinch of salt5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted½ tsp vanilla extractFilling1 cup heavy whipping cream4 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped1-3.1 oz disk Mexican chocolate (such as Ibarra), chopped¼ cup unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, room temperature2 tsp vanilla extract1 tsp ground cinnamon¼ tsp saltlightly sweetened whipping creamPecans: Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk egg white, both sugars, cinnamon, salt, and cayenne pepper in medium bowl. Stir in pecans. Spread nuts in single layer on sheet, rounded side up. Bake until just browned and dry, about 15 minutes. Cool on sheet. Separate nuts, removing excess coating.Crust: Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine graham crackers, pecans, sugar and salt in food processor and blend until nuts and crackers are finely ground. Mix in melted butter and vanilla. Press crumbs evenly on bottom and up sides of 9" diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Bake until set and just beginning to turn golden brown, about 10 minutes. Cool.Filling: Bring cream to simmer in medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Add both chocolates; whisk until melted. Add butter, 1 piece at a time, whisking until smooth between additions. Whisk in vanilla, cinnamon and salt. Pour filling into crust. Chill until filling begins to set, 15 to 20 minutes. Arrange nuts in concentric circles atop tart. Chill until set, about 4 hours. Serve tart with whipped cream.
Musings
A few notes on preparation: This is actually a combination of two recipes, the filling and topping from a new recipe and the crust from the chocolate ganache tart, largely because the original recipe called for a chocolate wafer cookie crust (which we couldn't find for whatever reason). We also forgot to serve it with whipped cream.We were a little concerned when we tried the pecans by themselves, as they seemed a little overcooked (I actually cut the original cooking time in half). However, in the context of the rest of the tart, the pecans turned out quite nicely. David noted that he could see punching up the spices on the pecans--perhaps a little more cinnamon and even a little bit of heat. The chocolate filling was also lovely, round and not too sweet, though I couldn't really tell that it included Mexican chocolate (not that I'd actually know if it tastes much different from regular chocolate). Nonetheless, it made for a lovely dessert, which was almost entirely gobbled up over the course of the party (we almost forgot to take a picture!) and definitely a dessert I could see tweaking in the future.