Monday, January 13, 2020

The Leftover Chocolate Tart



I usually have a New Year's Eve house party, which means I get hit with a double whammy of leftovers. But eventually, the day comes when most of them are gone and the refrigerator looks frighteningly empty. When that happened this year, I found five cups of heavy cream. Yikes! Of course, you can use it up by adding small amounts to soups, casseroles, and sauces. But five cups? I needed a recipe that would use a good quantity of it so I turned to a chocolate tart.

I  also happened to have a lovely bag of pecans that I wanted to use. Most nuts freeze very well, but even so, they only last so long, so I was pleased to be able to make use of them. Not only does the nut crust use up more leftovers, but it's a delicious complement to the intense chocolate.

Happily, this recipe uses up leftover chocolate chips, too. Admittedly, I still have an entire bag, but I was glad to use one of them before the expiration date loomed precariously close.

The great thing about this dessert is that no one will realize that you made it to use up leftovers! We won't tell them that all you do is dump chocolate chips into cream. Shhh!

Serve plain, just as it is. Garnish with a strawberry or two if you like, or whip any remaining cream you might have (with a little powdered sugar and a splash of vanilla) and serve on the side.

Now, what to do with the other three cups of heavy cream?

The Leftover Chocolate Tart

12-inch removable bottom tart pan

Crust
4 tablespoons butter, plus extra for greasing the pan
2 1/2 cup pecans (or mixture of other nuts)
3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
5 tablespoons sugar

Filling

1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate morsels
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 pinch flaked sea salt

Preheat the oven to 350. Melt the butter. Grease the tart pan well. Place the pecans in a food processor and chop until fine. Scrape the sides and add the sugar and salt. Pulse several times to mix. With the machine running, pour in the melted butter. Scrape the sides and pulse a time or two. Pour the pecans into the pan and smooth out, pushing up the sides.

Bake 18-20 minutes until it begins to pull away from the edge and is a golden brown color. Cool on a rack.

Heat the cream until very hot but do not bring to a full boil. Add the chocolate morsels. Stir until dissolved. Pour in the vanilla and stir to mix. Pour into the pecan crust. Set aside to cool. Refrigerate several hours to set. You can make this the day before you serve it. Dust the top with one pinch of flaked salt before serving.     

 

                                                                     








10 comments:

  1. I know that feeling with the fridge after the holidays are all over.
    Thank you for sharing your recipe. Looks yummy.
    quilting lady 2 at comcast dot net

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  2. My Grandmother was real good at using left overs in tasty dishes. Nice recipe. Love nut crusts. Thank you for the recipe.

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    1. Our grandmothers had a knack for that, didn't they? Nuts add something special to the crust. And so easy!

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  3. 5 cups of cream leftover?! That's impressive.

    This looks utterly scrumptious.

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    1. LOL, Libby! I was shocked. I expected some dribs and drabs but that was a lot of cream!

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  4. Looks yummy! My best suggestion for some of the leftover cream is creme brulee. Or another party. :)

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    1. Or ice cream! Why didn't I think of that? Yum, creme brulee might be just the ticket.

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  5. This sounds so good, and it's super easy, too! I'm putting this recipe in my back pocket to use for last-minute dessert needs.

    You could also add a tablespoon of bourbon to the filling, don't you think?

    I just made homemade potato leek soup, and used up the rest of the cream in the fridge.

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  6. That looks fabulous, Krista! My tip is to say you can always freeze heavy cream in an ice cube try and save for later uses in cooking.

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