Chocolate

Warm Chocolate & Banana Tart
Posted on Thursday, March 25, 2010

(Click on the picture for the food porn view)
In case you haven’t noticed, i have a giant sweet tooth. The same sweet tooth that caused me to lose about $40K in a dessert business venture a few years back but that’s a long story i rather not get into just yet. You would think that taking such a shower would permanently cureme from the sweet lovin’ side of me. Well, guess what? It didn’t.
As anyone with a giant sweet tooth chocolate plays a big part in my cravings. So i’ve been searching and searching for the ultimate chocolate dessert and today i can affirm this chocolate-banana tart is my all-time favorite. You may ask me again tomorrow and i may give you a whole different answer because err.. i change my mind alot, but  i can assure you that this recipe will never be too far from the top of the list. Pinky swear!
Of course, pastry mastermind Pierre Hermé created this recipe. Who else would think of caramelizing bananas with a sliver of ultra hot habanero pepper and finishing them up with a few turns of black pepper? Who else would think of adding rum macerated raisins to this already brilliantcombination? Who else does emulsify a chocolate ganache at such a precise temperature to create the silkiest, richest texture ever? Who else does wear his underpants upside down? err.. Oh no, wait, that was me yesterday.

I took the liberty to slightly simplify this recipe. Should you trust someone who wears his underpants the wrong way, you asked? Well, i see your point my friends but i know how to takea shortcut when i see one, plus i was already late for work.. err.. which has nothing to do with this chocolate tart. Essentially, i used my own (simpler) version of pate sucree, increased the amount of habanero and i doubled.. yes, doubled the amount of banana used in the original recipe. There’s no such thing as too much of a good thing in my opinion. I didn’t mess with the ganache recipethough. It’s sacred.
Once again, let’s bow to the King who created this recipe and to Dorie Greenspan for bringing it to the English-speaking public in “Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé“, which i highly recommend.
Enjoy!
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Chocolate-Banana Tart
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Adapted from “Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé”by Dorie Greenspan
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serves 6
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For the Sweet Tart Dough:
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1 cup confectioners’ sugar
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1 3/4 cups all-purposeflour
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Pinch of salt
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9 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
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1 large egg
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For the Raisins & Caramelized Bananas:
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1/2 cup golden raisins
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3 tablespoons dark rum
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3 tablespoons water
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2 ripe bananas
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1/2 lemon juice
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2 tablespoons butter, unsalted
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1/2 habanero pepper, or to taste
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4 tablespoons sugar
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a pinch of freshly ground black pepper
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For the Chocolate...