Mmmmmmmmm

This weeks Tuesdays With Dorie recipe was chosen by Carla of Chocolate Moosey and was the Chocolate Crunched-Caramel tart. Thanks for choosing this one Carla! This is my second week with the TWD group and I'm loving it. So is my husband :P

I felt like this recipe was very simple really - tart crust, caramel with peanuts and then chocolate on top - simple. But it required so many trips to the grocery store! and whats with NO one carrying bittersweet chocolate anymore? and is there really such a thing as a 9" tart pan? I think not! I ended up making individual tartlettes (which I thought came out better anyhow) and splurging on nice ghiradelli 60% dark chocolate (which I also thought was better) so all in all - mega YUM. The crust was delicious even though I didn't have a food processor to make it in - I did it in the kitchenaid and with a pastry cutter thing and by hand and with a big mess to show afterwards! and 5 cute little tart pans with a beautiful flaky, crumbly crust.

The ganache was fantastic and thinner than I usually think of a ganache but delicious (which I thank ghiradelli for). I thought that since it was topped with ganache it would be served cold and need to be refridgerated but no, Dorie was very specific about only a 30 minute chill time and then being served and stored at room temp. She was very right (as usual) it was delicious at room temp with the ganache soft but not too soft. The caramel was outstanding too, and very easy to make. I didn't think I'd like putting honey roasted peanuts in it but I didn't have any of the other nuts she mentioned for variations (toasted hazelnuts, pecans, walnuts or just salted peanuts) so I went with these and it came out fantastic! All in all this was a winner. Simple and oh so elegant.

You can tell we liked it

and for all you pacman (or woman) lovers