I get nervous trying new recipes sometimes. I mean, who doesn’t? You never really know how it’s going to turn out – especially when it’s not posted by amateur bakers like yourself. Trying to mimic professional cooking conditions is not so easy when you rent an apartment with an electric stove and limited kitchen space. BUT, When I stumbled upon the recipe for Chocolate Truffle Tart on Gourmet.com, I knew it was not one I could just scroll on by. The pictures on Gourmet.com are like food-porn, and I am a confirmed chocoholic. Just thinking about the chocolate decadence . . . I couldn’t resist! I pinned it onto my recipe board for a rainy day, and waited for the right occasion, which turned out to be just last week!
I owed my senior class some tasty baked goods (I have a classroom rewards system that I call “delicious points”, which I award for outstanding group behavior/performance, and their class reached the goal of 15 delicious points). SO, I set about making the magic happen. . .
When the chocolate had set, the tart was cooled, and serving time was upon us, I was really curious to see how the end result measured up to the delectable expectations. I dusted the tart with cocoa and sliced in!
Although not as creamy-textured as Gourmet’s pictures looked (maybe I baked it a bit longer?) , the end result was pretty fantastic.
Final Grade:
A+. I would definitely make this again. It was NOT hard, and the results were DELICIOUS, not to mention well-received.
Things I would change?
1.) Given a do-over, knowing what I know now, I would NOT dust the cake with cocoa, because it didn’t enhance anything about the flavor, and I thought it kind of detracted from the texture, to be quite honest. Instead, I might do a smattering of chocolate shavings on top.
2.) Next time I will serve this with either fresh whipped cream or a small scoop of vanilla-bean ice cream, because the density of the chocolate could’ve used a little something to cut the richness overload!
3.) If I didn’t serve it with something creamy and vanilla-y, I might serve it plain with coffee, because that would also be highly complementary and SCRUMPTIOUS.
