The Cookbook Challenge No. 7: CELEBRATION
Perfect timing.
The 'celebration' theme coincided with one of my family members birthdays, so a celebratory cake was in order.
When I saw this particular recipe recently posted on a blog I love to read, I knew I HAD to give it a try as there was something about the pictures and the words "milk jam" that just sucked me in.
So hear goes, my version of Tartelette's...............
Macadamia, Milk Jam and Chocolate Tart
Cookbook: Tartelette blog
As Tartelette's crust used gluten free ingredients (which I didn't have on hand), I decided to use the crust from the Apricot Cheesecake I made for my mum's birthday earlier this year.
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Crust
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted | 1 1/2 cups gingersnap cookie crumbs | 1/2 cup chopped toasted macadamia nuts
Milk Jam
2 cups whole milk | 1/2 cup caster sugar | 1/4 tsp baking soda
Chocolate Ganache
5 oz (142g) bittersweet chocolate (chips or chopped) | pinch of salt | 1/2 cup heavy cream
Prepare Crust
- Combine butter with the gingersnap crumbs and macadamia nuts. Press firmly into a buttered tart pan with removable bottom. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 1 hour.
Prepare Milk Jam
- Place the milk, sugar and baking soda in a heavy bottom saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. When the mixture is boiling, turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer until thick as jam, about 45 minutes to 1 hour (mine took almost 1 1/2 hours).
Prepare Chocolate Ganache
- Place the chocolate and salt in a non reactive bowl and set aside. In a heavy bottom saucepan set over high heat, bring the cream to almost boiling (really hot basically!). When hot, pour it over the chocolate and salt. Let stand for 5 minutes before slowly whisking the mixture to bring it together to a smooth and silky ganache. If it's not completely smooth, return to very low heat for a few seconds to melt the chocolate some more.
To Assemble
- Pour the milk jam into the bottom of the tart. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Spoon some chocolate ganache over the milk jam until you reach close to the top. Refrigerate a couple of hours before serving to let the ganache and milk jam set. I then grated some lemon rind over the top to help cut through the sweetness.
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When putting the tart together, I actually found that I didn't have enough of the Milk Jam. The above quantity only made a enough to thinly cover the bottom of the tart. In fact I actually had to make another double batch of the jam just to make a decent layer.
A few other tips I worked out along the way - make sure that you allow the milk jam to set well in the tart before adding the cooled ganache (I would allow a whole hour for this). Also, once the cooled ganache has been added, allow the whole tart to set in the fridge for quite a few hours. Unfortunately I wasn't able to give it as much time in the fridge as it needed so when sliced, it was a bit too gooey. However I really loved the flavour.
A few extra hours and I think the tart would have been perfect.
One to definitely try again, I think.
Happy birthday J - hope you enjoyed your cake!
To see what my fellow challengers got up to, click here
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