chocolate hazelnut tart
Of course my good, really good friend didn’t know I would be using this tart as leverage as a humble peace offering for my nutella spooning addict of a husband who, had I not gently reminded him every 5 seconds that the jar of nutella was for a tart totally awesome surprise and not for “you and a spoon” would have eaten the entire extra-large 27-ounce container in one sitting. But you see, I just gently reminded him, often, because this tart surprise was really a tail between my legs thank you. A thank-you honey for taking me away on a romantic weekend when all I had were demands like “Take me to Balthazars!” and “No, I don’t want to tour NBC. I want to go up to the top of the Empire State building for the 16th time.” and “My feet are cold!” as I stab him in the back with my ice block nubs in bed, and “I want a pony!”
And not only does he deserve a big thank you for being an unbelievably wonderful guy, but also for putting up with me when I had grouchy, scathing mood swings, fiery death stares that could kill you dead when you mention the words laundry and/or cleaning and/or brushing hair and a short fuse that caused me to snap at every little thing that disturbed my overly focused mind:
“Is there anything for dinner? I’m starving.”
“NO!”
“But, it’s 10:00. What should I eat?”
“I don’t know…”
“Can I have a sandwich?”
“no.”
“A bowl of cereal?”
“No.”
“An apple?”
“No!”
“A morsel of bread?”
“NO!”
“A tiny bit of happiness?”
“NO! NO! NO!”
So he deserves this, all of this. I won’t even sneak a bite more than a couple bites.
One Year Ago: Super Easy Cheese Danishes
Chocolate Hazelnut Tart
From Food Network
Crust:
3/4 cup blanched hazelnuts
1 cup flour, plus more for dusting
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Filling:
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup nutella
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
For the crust:
Toast hazelnuts in a skillet over medium heat until golden, about 8 minutes. Let cool. Transfer 1/3 c nuts to food processor, along with flour, sugar and salt; pulse until the nuts are finely ground. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse meal. Drizzle in the egg and vanilla; pulse until the dough starts to come together.
Turn the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and pat into a disk. Wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least an hour. Coarsely chop remaining hazelnuts and reserve.
Roll out the dough on a light floured surface into a 12 in. round. Press into the bottom and sides of a 9 in. tart pan with removable bottom. Trim the excess dough. Prick bottom with a fork. Refrigerate til firm, about 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line the crust with foil, then fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until edges are golden, about 20 minutes. Remove the foil and weights and continue baking until golden brown all over, 15-20 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.
For the filling:
Whisk the cornstarch into 1/4 cup cream in a bowl. Combine the remaining 1 3/4 cup cream, nutella, vanilla and salt in a small saucepan. Whisk in the cornstarch mixture and bring to a boil over medium heat making sure to whisk often. Once the mixture starts to boil, stir constantly until thickened (will be the consistency of pudding) about 2 minutes. Pour into the crust and swirl the top. Refrigerate 1 hour, or til set. Top with the reserved hazelnuts pressing gently into the pie.
Spoon More: Chocolate, Sweet Tarts and Pies
hahaha! I LOVE this blog entry! It made me smile! :D :D :D
hahaha I agree with Naomi above, I laughed out loud a little reading your post! Love your writing….and of course that amazing tart, I’m drooling a little over here!
This was so funny. I laughed out loud at some of your dialogue. YAY!
This looks absolutely magnificent. I am ashamed to admit that with all the current craze, I have yet to try Nutella!!! (GASP. I know. I’m weird.) But I think I will have to try this recipe. It looks UNREAL.
LOL :) Yummy Tart too!
I’m glad it’s not just me who’s a bit of a stroppy cow in the kitchen! I was making bread the other day (always stressful) and while I was bending down and reaching to get the loaf tins out of the back of the cupboard he put an ice cube down my pants! Not funny at the time.. I retaliated by throwing a whole glass of beer over him, oops! Unfortunately I had to mop up the mess in the kitchen too. He won’t do that again though… Maybe I should make him this tart as an apology?! Looks delish.
Great looking tart. This is not just a maybe on my tart list to make and I usually stay away from recipes on the food network. Congrats on the top 9.
Wow, this looks amazing. The texture of the filling looks so silky smooth, and the Nutella…wow,wow,wow!
Congrats on making the up 9 on Foodbuzz!
Congrats on top 9, and well-deserved! Anything with Nutella in it is top 3 in my book! Beautiful photos. Keep up the great work!
I LOVE hazelnuts, so this recipe is on my menu planner. Love your post. Top 9 congrats!
Is there anything I can substitute the heavy cream for? Would vanilla soymilk be okay, or would it ruin the consistency of the filling?
Sarah – The texture may be off if you swap the two. Cream is full of fat and will coagulate making that silky creamy finish. Soy milk is low fat and full of protein, and does not react the same way. If you have to use soy milk try adding a tablespoon of butter or hazelnut oil, even an egg yolk to replace the missing fat. Only way to know for sure is to try it and see how it turns out so you know what to add to fix it.
congrats on top 9 ! This chocolate tart is looking heavenly and I just wish it cud fly to me. love the addition of hazzelnuts, awesome dessert !
Your post had me laughing out loud!! We have all been there… I love the no, no, no!!
What gorgeous pictures you have, I could dive right into this one. Nicely done! Did the peace offering work??? ;)
What pretty pictures and such a great recipe!!! No happiness! LOL ♥- Katrina
Kim – yes it worked!
God, it looks amazing, I have to have a piece of that!! Or even maybe the whole thing :))
This is just way too funny. I made the exact recipe from March 2011 Food Network Magazine page 64. It was soooo good but I have issues with pie crust so what I did was to food process hazelnuts after toasting them and used a already made crust and pressed the processed nuts on the bottom and up the sides. It was yummy. Very, very fattening but OMG!!
What a beautiful tart! And a good laugh. Thanks – and congratulations on the top 9!
WOW this looks amazing! Deffinitely just saved it on Foodbuzz!
Woah! Very chocolately and rich. You only live once, so you might as well enjoy it! :) Thanks for sharing.
Why of course you’re number one… a tart that’s like a slice of Nutella, only better… it all makes sense. :-)
I love love love hazelnuts and I love nutella even more. This looks so yummy. I might need to make one of these as a peace offering to my honey. I fall prey to those snappy grouchy moments too.
Hehe! This sounds like me and my fiance! This tart looks absolute decadent and amazing!
This looks so decadent and delicious! Congrats on the Top 9!
Thank you for coming to blog and saying kind words about my macarons. Speaking of wonderful things, however, this hazelnut chocolate tart looks heavenly. I also love soups. Williams Sonoma has cooking classes that I have just discovered. At the first one, we made 3 different soups!
This looks delicious and like all good recipes gets my wheels turning. I suddenly have the urge to make nutella creme brulees.
Meg, your writing is as wonderful as your recipes. :) Hi from The Culinary Lens “Thinker” gathering!