Friday, September 07, 2007

Something sweet for the weekend

Strength of a wine cork

Don't listen to people who tell you,"You are too small to achieve great things". Look at the wine cork, it has the strength to lift up a Nutella Tart which probably is a thousand times heavier than its weight.


Have you made any plans for the weekend? I am not sure about others, but I like to pack my weekends with lots of activities. Most of the time, ambitious plans which I ended up not achieving much.

Nutella TartIdeally, our weekend should begin with a hearthy homemade breakfast with coffee/orange juice. After which, we would take a 45 minutes walk to the park near our apartment and take in some fresh air. Then, we will make a trip to the farmer's market where we will be considered the early birds, and will get to pick the freshest, prettiest produce first without joustling with the rest of the customers.

Lunch will either be a picnic at the park, or a sandwich at our favorite spot in the Italian neighborhood. Then we would stroll around the neighborhood with freshly made cannoli on hand. Maybe we would catch an afternoon movie after that? It would be dinner time after the show.

Then I would leave OCT alone to play computer game, while I bake something in the kitchen.....

This, as I have mentioned, is my over-ambitious weekend plan.

A typical weekend usually begin when we wake up after we have slept to our hearts' content. I won't tell you the time, let's just say it would be too hot for a leisure walk to the park and the farmer's market will already be packed with people.

Then we will debate on whether we should go directly for lunch or make a detour home to put down our loot. On summer, it's generally too hot to do anything, so we normally head straight home and stay in the comfort of indoor air-conditioner.

And stay indoor for the rest of the day.

Boring, I know. This weekend, I make the same ambitious plan, and let's see how much I can accomplish.

Nutella Tart

I am going to leave you with this Nutella Tart I made awhile ago, from Pierre Herme's Chocolate Desserts Book. It's the tart Monsieur Herme developed for his wife who loves Nutella. Oh, how romantic! I wish I could tell him it's my favorite too. Too bad I don't speak French! Even if I could, I must transport myself to Paris first! Anyway, have a great weekend,you all!

Nutella Tart



Nutella Tart
adapted from Pierre Herme's Chocolate Desserts

The crust:
1 fully baked 8 3/4 inch (22cm) tart shell made from Sweet Tart Dough, cooled to room temperature

Keep the cooled crust, with the tart ring still in place, on the parchment-lined baking sheet.( The crust can be made up to 8 hours ahead and kept at room temperature.)

The Filling:
2/3 cup (200g) Nutella
4 3/4 ounces (140g) bittersweet chocolate, preferably Valrhona Noir Gastronomie, finely chopped
7 tbsps (3 1/2 ounces, 200g) unsalted butter
1 large egg, at room temperature, stired with a fork
3 large egg yolks, at room temperature, stirred with a fork
2 tbsp sugar
1 cup (140g) hazelnuts toasted,skinned and cut into large pieces


Center a rack in the ove and preheat the oven to 375F (190C).

Spread Nutella evenly over the bottom of the crust and set it aside while you make the ganache.

Melt the chocolate and butter in separate bowls either over-not touching-simmering water or in a microwave oven. Allow them to cool until they feel only just warm to the touch [104F (40C)], as measured on an instant read thermometer, is perfect).

Using a small whisk or rubber spatula, stir the egg into the chocolate, stirring gently in ever widening circles and taking care not to agitate the mixture- you don't want to beat air into the ganache. Little by little, stir in the egg yolks, then the sugar. Finally, still working gently, stir in the warm melted butter. Pour the ganache over the Nutella in the tart shell. Scatter the toasted hazelnus over the top.

Bake the tart for 11 minutes- that should be just enough time to turn the top of the tart dull, like the top of a cake. The center of the tart will shimmy if jiggled- that's just what it's supposed to do. Remove the tart from the oven and slide it onto a rack. Allow the tart to cool for at least 20 minutes, or until it reaches room temperature- the best temperature at which to serve it.

Makes 6 to 8 servings .

21 comments:

Anh said...

Oh la la, nutella tart! I have a deep affection to nutella, so I'll try the recipe once you posted it. Have a lovely weekend!

Jacqueline Meldrum said...

That is mean, leaving us without a recipe! I was reading down the post and thinking, this looks great, it would be perfect for the party I am going to tonight! Oh well, I shall just have to learn some patience!

Natalie Sztern said...

post the recipe already!!

Nora B. said...

What a beauty! I love nutella, how can you do this to me? ;-) I was going to have a relaxing weekend of not doing much (that's usually my plan), but now I have to make this tart. I have all the ingredients...dangerous.... ;-)

Caty said...

Wow! Looks fantastic.

Anne said...

Thank you for the recipe :) I would love to try this !

Deborah said...

Wow - this looks amazing!

SteamyKitchen said...

Nutella! My kids LOVE Nutella! They eat it straight out of the jar...

fatboybakes said...

hiya, mandy, thanks for dropping by my blog. you have a gorgeous food blog here, and fantastic photography, and that nutella tart...what can i say that hasn't already been said by the others!!!!

and i've also ALWAYS wanted to try cherry clafoutis. alas, we're in the tropics, and cherries are expensive, about USD15 a kg...and that's during the peak of the season!!!

Monique said...

I've wanted to try this tart ever since I saw the recipe in the book. I've yet to put the plan into action though... Your tart is so pretty, and with nutella in it, it has to be yummy!

Anonymous said...

That's simply heavenly delicious. I have nutella spread on my brioche for breakfast every day :)

My better half always say I'm overly ambitious in making dinner whenever we have guests over. He is unfortunately right. :(

Anonymous said...

What a way to go nuts over the weekend. I just laze around during the weekends. Oops.

Helene said...

Pierre is definitely my sugar daddy! Our sundays are pretty much at the same pace...
This tart sounds out of this world, rich, dense...hmhmmmhmhmm!

Mandy said...

anh,
let me know if you tried!

holler,
opps....I added the recipe the next day. Hope you get to try it still...

blondee47,
thanks.

nora b,
haha. I know how you feel!That was my exaxt sentiment when I first saw the recipe!

caty,
thanks!

Anne,
I would love to see your version of this. It would sure be stunning.

Deborah,
thanks!

Jaden,
yeah, that's the best way to enjoy Nutella!

fatboybakes,
thanks for visiting! I definitely won't buy the cherry if it's so expensive!!!
Although I get cherries here cheaper, I can't get my hand on fresh and cheap durian..:( Quite that's what we call give and take.

monique,
thanks!

the cooking ninja,
I wish I could have for breakfast everyday.
Well, your food loves so delicious, I would be happy to be your guest!

tigerfish,
yeah, that's exactly how my weekend ended up too. Not a bad way actually. :D

Helene,
hahaha, Pierre is my sugar daddy too.

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

Nutella makes delicious Smore's as well when you want that hazelnut and chocolate fix!!

Kajal@aapplemint said...

Pierre Herme has been an idol for all us bloggers.This one looks just perfect.i cant tell you how this tart is teasing me right now. I'm fasting and this has got my stomach growling...grr... !

Belinda said...

Oh my gosh! Your tart is just beautiful...like something out of a magazine, or from a fancy pastry shop. Sometimes I feel like I can gain weight just looking at beautiful food blog photos...I would be in chocolate heaven if I had a slice of this right now. :-)

Dwiana P said...

this tart look absolutely so YUMMY! thanks for sharing.

Suganya said...

Congratulations on winning DMBLGiT. Oh yeah, this recipe is bookmarked.

Alanna Kellogg said...

Congratulations!

Shaheen said...

Oh my! I love tarts and I love nutella, now what better than this! :)

Related Posts with Thumbnails