Thursday, May 17, 2012

French Friday with Dorie: Double Chocolate Banana Tart


TRIPLE CHOCOLATE AND BANANA TART
My Frolicking Night Owl daughter had a Chocolate Party Tuesday evening, and it was better than fabulous.  Zillions of her friends and family came and everyone baked their favorite chocolate desserts or brought their favorite chocolate candies for all of us to try.  The Owl made her two favorite chocolate contributions and also provided a chocolate fountain with a great dipping selection. All the desserts were amazing and after two hours of eating chocolate goodies non-stop I had to go home, but I was well energized for a few late night hours of work.  As I was leaving, a whole new crowd of chocolate eaters were arriving.  I should have stayed and tried all their desserts too.  I decided I should have a chocolate party–very addicting!  With Evite these parties are a breeze to plan.   (I heard that some party attenders stayed until midnight...I think I missed out.)


THE CRUST HAS BEEN BAKED


AND SEALED WITH GANACHE

Trading work hours for baking and chocolate eating hours was a great idea.  I spent the afternoon baking two different banana chocolate tarts/pies...one for FFwD, and one for Baked Sunday Mornings.  I was happy to do my office work at night while on a sugar and chocolate high.  With all my energy, I’m sure my work quality was A+.



And, it was also fun to compare these two desserts.  I cheated on the Baked Explorations’ Peanut Butter and Banana Cream Pie, also giving it a chocolate crust and I added a drizzle of chocolate over the top...it had to be chocolate, of course.  Both were really great crowd pleasing desserts.  For this post I will feature Dorie’s Double Chocolate and Banana Tart and on Sunday morning I’ll write about the “Baked” pie.

Dorie’s chocolate crust is perfect.  It mixed easily and after being refrigerated it rolled out nicely between two pieces of plastic wrap...no mess.  It did crack just a little while baking and I wanted to seal those cracks before adding the caramely bananas to the tart bottom...so I sealed the tart crust with ganache and put it in the freezer for 10 minutes.  It sealed perfectly...And more chocolate just makes it more better.

LEMONED BANANA SLICES IN THE CARAMEL LINE THE TART BOTTOM
Next time for this tart,  I will make a better caramel for the bottom banana layer...like a good, sticky caramel sauce.  I’ve decided I’m not a big fan of the melted sugar caramel which, to me, has a little bitterness in the finished flavor.  And with a little lemon flavor from the lemoned bananas, it was not my favorite.  I know, a little lemon is often added to caramel sauce, however, not to my caramel sauce.   Hubby likes the melted sugar and pours  it over his frozen yogurt.  I guess I envisioned a different product.


BECAUSE I THOUGHT THE CARAMEL WAS JUST A BIT BITTER--I BAMMED IT WITH CONFECTIONERS' SUGAR BEFORE ADDING THE GANACHE
The ganache filling was incredible.  Is there anything better?  The bananas were an enjoyed addition, but I found myself  dreaming about raspberries or other chocolate friendly additions...like my new find at Costco which are their dark chocolate-almond-cherry clusters–Oh my!  I was thinking about chopping them up and ditching the bananas.  Next time.  And I’m thinking about these clusters with the raspberries.

I COULD EAT A GANACHE TART PLAIN!  ALL BY MYSELF!
After this dessert was assembled, I drizzled melted bittersweet chocolate over the top...had to make it even more chocolaty for the party.  It was YUM!

AT FROLICKING NIGHT OWL'S HOUSE THIS TART SLIPPED RIGHT OUT OF THE BAKING PAN & ONTO THE PLATTER--PERFECTLY
I wondered how this chocolaty tart would hold up at an outdoor AZ summer party.  When my house is 82^ my chocolate begins to melt, and we keep our house at about 82-84^ in the summer.  That probably sounds too warm to many of you, however, this week we reached 106^ and that was my yard work day, out in the blue skies and sunshine, this week’s work took 6 hours.  So coming into a cool 82^ feels really good.  I actually get cold below 80^.  Most of us living in the Phoenix Valley have adjusted to the heat...unless we work in something like a super-air conditioned office.  I know it will sound gross to you, but the room with my computer where I type up my blogs is a comfy 100^ with no A/C...my choice.  My kids think I’m weird, but sitting here under the ceiling fan, with an icy cold drink, and after a dip in the pool, is like heaven to me.

SORRY ABOUT THE BAD PHOTO, BUT THIS IS OUTSIDE IN THE DARK...CAN YOU SEE  ALL THE WONDERFUL LAYERS IN THIS FABULOUS TART
Anyway, back to the tart.  It did hold up well.  Surprise.  And so did the “Baked” pie with its custard layer and creamy peanut butter layer...and all my sliced bananas in these pies stayed fresh looking...no brown bananas in my desserts.  Whew!

I KNOW, THIS IS A REALLY BAD PHOTO, BUT THIS IS MY SLICE AND IT IS A SLICE OF DELICIOUSNESS
I will enjoy seeing all your tarts.  I’m guessing many of them made it to Mothers’ Day tables which I think is a wonderful idea.


24 comments:

  1. How funny, Kris - I was thinking about how great this would look with chocolate drizzled over the top. Just gorgeous!

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  2. Wow, Kris, you made this a masterpiece! Love that you added caramel AND a chocolate drizzle :)

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  3. A chocolate party, huh? Wow, that must have been something else...
    I like that you drizzled the chocolate all over the top - nice touch
    Have a great weekend.

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  4. Yum! Love the chocolate drizzle. A chocolate party DOES sound heavenly!

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  5. Kris, your tart looks amazing. But I'm with you on the caramel, I somehow thought that there would be more of a caramel sauce than there was. I thought that the caramelized bananas were very tasty, but somehow I thought that there would be more sauce too. Oh well, it was darn tasty anyway.

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  6. Kris, Your tart looks absolutely gorgeous! Love the chocolate drizzle…very pretty! A chocolate party…what a great idea! Sounds like so much fun!

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  7. Love your chocolate drizzle on top! How can you go wrong with a chocolate party? I think that's a fun idea and it looks like your tart held up just fine, probably didn't last too long;-) Have a wonderful weekend!

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  8. A chocolate party... heaven! Your tart looks delicious :)

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  9. Lovely "icing"!

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  10. I'm so jealous how your banana slices stayed whole during the caramelization. Great drizzle, too!

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  11. A chocolate drizzle. Of course!! Looks lovely. And yummy.

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  12. Mmm, yours look great! I have to agree that Dorie's tart crust is perfect. I use the regular one all the time and now I'm going to start using the chocolate one. And I totally feel you on wishing for a more "chocolate friendly" fruit. I didn't love the fresh bananas.

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  13. Your tart is gorgeous Kris! I didn't have quite enough banans for the top. Love the chocolate drizzle on top.

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  14. Great photos, Kris. Your tart looks wonderful and I like the drizzled chocolate on top. I think a caramel layer without the bananas would be so delicious with the chocolate. I am making my BAKED pie tomorrow morning, so I am interested in seeing how everyone likes it compared to this one.

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  15. Yes- something about the bananas coated with lemon juice did not transform so well....your tart is scrumptious looking, though.

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  16. Chocolate over the top was just the ticket! Love the chocolate party idea, I may have to try that one soon.

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  17. Your tart looks so good and I'm going to be sure to pop over tomorrow to read about the peanut butter one! I have been thinking about buying that cookbook - we've had it at the store a few times. I need my husband to build me a whole bookshelf just for my cookbooks I think! Your caramelized bananas seemed to hold up a lot better than mine - I think I should have sliced them thicker. The chocolate party sounds like a blast and everyone was lucky to have your beautiful contributions!

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  18. Krissy, I am going to hyperventilate over all your chocolate conversation. I also just added dark almond cherry-clusters to my Costco list. I definitely gained five pounds just READING your wonderful Post. A chocolate party, huh, that sounds like an idea. I do think it's better you hung with the early crowd and skipped the midnight chocolatiers. I cannot imagine sleeping after all that chocolate........but, I guess you didn't. Both of your tarts look delicious and I'm with you on the caramelized bananas. Mine were sliced too think and lacked something. Maybe it was the caramelization method - hadn't thot of that. And, using ganache to fill the cracks was a new trick for me. I'm not an AC girl and I keep my Nevada house, little though it is, at 82 degrees. My only caution with the cool drink near your computer - use a sealed cup and a straw. You do not want liquid spilling onto your computer http://www.lightsonbrightnobrakes.com/spilled-liquid-computer-toast/ Quite an expensive spill for me. LOL

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  19. I am so impressed that your caramelized layer kept it's shape, mine pretty much dissolved! I love the drizzled chocolate on top!

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  20. What a perfect contribution for a chocolate party! I like the look of your chocolate drizzle on top.

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  21. I would love to sink my teeth into all that chocolate and bananas...YUM!

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  22. How have I not hosted (or been invited to.....) a chocolate party ??? Love love love this idea and think Nana and I will need to coordinate one of these little deals ourselves - too fun ! Your tarts look amazing and I loved hearing about your daughters party - so nice. And I am with you on the Costco clusters and raspberry combo. Genius !

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  23. Hi, Kris!

    I've nominated you for a brand new award! Please stop by my blog to "pick it up": http://www.createamazingmeals.com/2012/05/brand-new-award-food-stories-award-for.html

    I love your stories! xoxo

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  24. I really like the dark chocolate drizzle on the top, it needed that! Great idea!

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