Oh wow this is amazingly delicious and so pretty.
(Picture from their site)
Chocolate Pear Tart Our Best Bites
CRUST
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
½ cup sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 ⅔ cups all purpose flour
1–2 tablespoons heavy cream
FILLING
3 ounces AMERICAN HERITAGE CHOCOLATE®, grated or finely chopped*
4 ripe but firm pears
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
¾ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1 ½ cups heavy cream
TOPPING
1 ounce AMERICAN HERITAGE CHOCOLATE® grated or finely chopped
2 tablespoons heavy cream
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
To make crust, combine butter and sugar in a stand mixer and beat until well mixed. Add egg and egg yolk and stir until combined. Add flour and as the mixer is running on low, add cream. Beat until everything is incorporated. Press dough into a tart pan (see note about sizes) and up sides. Keep dough to about ¼ inch thick or just a little less. Remove any excess dough hanging over edge. Place tart pan on a baking sheet and place in freezer for 10-15 minutes. Place a sheet of parchment paper over crust surface and fill with pie weights or dry beans. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove parchment and pie weights, prick several times on the bottom of crust, and cook for 10 minutes longer. If crust puffs up, simply prick with fork, to release steam.
Prepare filling. Peel and half pears, remove cores, and thinly slice. Beat together eggs, egg yolks, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and cream until combined.
When crust comes out of oven, sprinkle chocolate over the bottom and let it sit to melt. Spread evenly across crust. Place pears in a fan shape around the entire tart. Gently pour filling over pears until it reaches near the top of the tart pan. Bake for about 45 minutes or until custard is set and slightly golden brown on top.
Place tart on a rack to cool and prepare topping when it is luke warm or room temperature. Heat cream until steaming and then pour over the 1 ounce chocolate. Whisk until smooth and then drizzle over tart. (Tip: Place chocolate in a zip-top bag and cut off the tip for clean looking drizzles). Let tart cool completely and serve at room temperature.
NOTES: This recipe is large enough to yield up to a 12-inch tart pan, or 2 tarts if you use a smaller 6-8″ pan (Adjust the amount of pears and chocolate accordingly. It’s okay to eyeball those). My 11-in pan left enough extra to make a few little individual desserts in ramekins as well, which is fun for the cook to eat before the grand dessert is ready!
**This recipe features AMERICAN HERITAGE CHOCOLATE but feel free to substitute any dark or semi-sweet chocolate in its place.
**I adapted the custard part of this recipe from a similar dessert on the Messy Baker, which she found in the book In the Sweet Kitchen: The Definitive Baker’s Companion by Regan Daley.
