Baked Sunday Mornings: Simple Chocolate Whiskey Tart

I love tarts. Specifically, I love making them. While pies are my Kryptonite, I can happily crank out tarts all day without a problem. This week's Baked Sunday Mornings recipe -- Simple Chocolate Whiskey Tart -- seems almost like a pie in disguise. Instead of the pastry crust you typically see in tarts, this tart has has a cookie crumb crust, similar to the graham cracker crust that you see in a lot of pies; it also reminded me of the Sunrise Key Lime Tart from Baked Elements, which has a pretzel crust.

Normally when a recipe calls for a cookie crumb crust, I bake my own cookies. But I was pressed for time and had to go the store-bought route; I used Pepperidge Farm shortbread. To make the tart crust, you grind up the shortbread in the food processor, add salt and melted butter, and then press the mixture into a springform pan.

You partially bake the crust and let it cool. The first step in making the filling is heating heavy cream and milk, addding milk chocolate and dark chocolate, stirring until smooth, and cooling the mixture to room temperature. Then you whisk together an egg, egg yolk, flour, and whiskey, and combine the egg mixture with the cooled chocolate mixture. You pour the filling into the crust and bake.

I noticed that there were some air bubbles on the surface of my filling before I put it into the oven, and it crossed my mind that maybe I should do something about them, but I let it go -- and all of those bubbles were visible in the baked tart. I wasn't sure if I had overbaked the tart -- I checked it at 20 minutes and the entire thing was still jiggly, but when I checked it again at 25 minutes, there was no jiggle at all.

While the tart is meant to be accompanied by whiskey whipped cream, I followed one of the cookbook suggestions for a boozeless alternative and made vanilla whipped cream instead (what can I say; I'm not a fan of whiskey). I made the whipped cream about eight hours in advance, but I kept it chilled and included some Dr. Oetker Whip It stabilizer -- so it held up perfectly.

The cookbook notes that there is some debate over whether this tart is best served straight from the fridge, or at room temperature. I split the difference and took it out of the fridge about an hour before serving.

Tasters absolutely raved about this tart. The whiskey flavor was fairly strong, which is precisely why I didn't love it. But for everyone else, the whiskey flavor was a plus. I did really like the smooth and rich chocolate filling, which had the consistency and mouthfeel of a chocolate cheesecake. The shortbread crust is outstanding: sweet, buttery, and crisp -- with just the right amount of salt to sharpen all of the flavors. And the whipped cream was a perfect pairing. 

The tart was a huge hit, and I would absolutely make it again. Of course, if I wanted to eat it myself, I would just leave out the whiskey. But for people who like whiskey, this tart hits all the right notes. And then some.

Recipe: "Simple Chocolate Whiskey Tart with Whiskey Whipped Cream" from Baked Elements: Our 10 Favorite Ingredients, by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, recipe available here at Baked Sunday Mornings.