Chocolate & Vietnamese Coffee Tart

for a recent summer ladies' brunch at buu's, i brought along a tart (for a bunch of tarts) that i had spied almost 4 years ago. hunting thru the many copies of Bon Appétit on my bookshelf, i finally located the battered issue, doggy earred and sticky noted-up, i figured it would go over well as an after thought, a slight pick me up from a more than likely heavily laden buffet table. i knew that while the champagne would be free flowing, the chances of a fresh cup of coffee would be slim. i was right.

it should be noted that i put in the original recipe's tart trust but i actually made a graham cracker crust. in this heat of summer, it is a bitch to keep the butter properly cold and without a food processor, damn near impossible for the dough to form correctly. i made my life simpler. maybe in the dead of winter, i'll feel inclined to make the tart crust properly.

Chocolate and Vietnamese Coffee Tart
adapted from Bon Appétit, November 2005

Crust:
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 large egg

Filling
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
2 Tbl instant coffee powder (i used kahlua instead)
1/2 tsp ground star anise
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
1 large egg
8 oz bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
**i also added 2 Tbl of espresso vodka at the end, incorporating it well.

Chantilly (french culinary term for sweetened and/or flavored whipped cream)
1 cup whipping cream
2 Tbl sweetened condensed milk
1/4 tsp (scant) salt

For the crust:
place flour, slivered almonds, and salt in processor; mix until almonds are finely ground. add sugar, cocoa powder and chilled butter. using on/off turns, process almond mixture until coarse meal forms. add egg and process until moist clumps form. gather dough into ball and flatten into disk. Refrigerate overnight. Press dough onto bottom and up sides of 9" diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Refrigerate crust 1 hour. (can be prepared 2 days ahead. Cover and keep refrigerated. *note: i used a 10" pan, the bottom was NOT removable, and it was fine.)

Preheat oven to 350F. Line tart crust with aluminum foil, fill with died beans or pie weights. Bake until edges are set, about 20 minutes. Remove aluminum foil and beans, and bake until tart crust is dry and cooked thru, about 7 minutes longer. Cool tart trust completely.

For filling:
bring first six ingredients to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Whisk egg in medium bowl to blend. Gradually whisk hot cream mixture to saucepan and cook over medium high heat until mixture thickens slightly and candy thermometer inserted into mixture registers 160F, stirring constantly, about 1 minute (do not boil). Remove from heat. Add chocolate; stir until melted and smooth. Strain filling into another medium bowl. Refrigerate until cool, about 3 hours. Pour filling into tart crust. Chill until softly set, at least 8 hours or overnight.

For chantilly:
Using electric mixer, beat cream in large bowl until peaks begin to form. Add sweetened condensed milk and salt; beat chantilly until peaks form.

Cut tart into wedges and serve each with a dollop of Chantilly.

Verdict:
very sweet and decadent, almost too heavy. the chantilly did not turn out, nuria misread the recipe and put in too much salt so the peaks never formed. maybe the chantilly would've cut the sweetness a bit. i enjoyed the flavor of the tart but to call it an actual vietnamese coffee flavored tart would be a stretch, i did not notice much of the strong depth of coffee flavor that is normally found in cà phê s?a ?á. transporting the tart from baltimore to virginia in the heat of summer, even with the A/C on high softened the tart a bit. be sure that that tart is fully set before cutting into it.

Today's song: Joseph Arthur, Honey & the Moon