- Hey guys, today I'm going to share with you
one of my favorite desserts for Thanksgiving,
a chocolate pecan tart.
Now I know normally people are use to
a chocolate pecan pie.
It's basically the same thing,
but because we're sort of a (mumbling) family,
I like to throw it in a tart tin.
I think it just ends up being a little bit prettier
and a little bit more elegant.
Let me show you how to make it.
So the first thing we're going to do
is make our crust.
So in a bowl, we're going to add
a cup and a third of flour,
two tablespoons of sugar,
and a teaspoon of salt.
Go ahead and just whisk that up.
To that we're going to add
a half a cup of very cold butter
that has been cut into cubes.
Then you're just going to work the butter in
with the flour using your hands.
You're basically looking for a coarse meal to develop.
At this stage, we're going to prepare our egg mixture.
So in a small bowl you're going to add
one egg yolk
and a quarter cup of ice water.
Go ahead and just mix that up
and then you're going to add this mixture
to your flour mixture,
stirring it with a fork
until kind of a rough dough forms.
Then you're just going to go in with your hands
and start to form that dough,
making sure it's all sticking together.
And then what I like to do
is actually take it and start to smush it against the bowl,
making sure all of that fat of the butter
is becoming incorporated into your dough.
Then you can turn it out onto a floured surface,
pat it into a disk and then working quickly
so that that dough doesn't become too soft.
And we're going to roll it out into a large circle
about an eighth of an inch thick.
We're going to flip it over our rolling pin,
add it into our tart pan,
and then just fold over the sides
creating kind of like a double crust
along the edges.
That will reinforce our tart and allow it
to actually stay really stable while it bakes
and when we release it from the pan.
And then what I like to do
is kind of go in with my palm
and start to push that dough in
to the tart pan, making sure
that it's not too thick around the sides.
You want to make sure you kind of have
an even thickness.
Then you can take a small paring knife,
trim off the edges and then you will see
your tart is ready to go.
So now the next thing we want to do
is actually pop this tin into our freezer
while we prepare the filling.
Watch how easy this is.
So we're going to take a medium size heat safe bowl.
We're going to add
four ounces of bittersweet chocolate
and a half a cup of butter.
We're just going to pop that in the microwave
for one minute until the butter and the chocolate
is fully melted.
Then you can go in and just whisk it up.
And then we're going to add
three quarters cup of sugar,
a teaspoon of vanilla,
one whole egg,
and three egg yolks.
Now it's the egg yolks that's going to give
this pie that deep fudge-y deliciousness
and create a really decadent chocolatey compote.
You can whisk up this mixture
until it's nice and combined
and then we're going to add
a quarter cup of flour
and a half a teaspoon of salt.
Mix that together and your filling is done.
So at this stage, we're going to go back
and get our tart tin.
We're going to transfer the mixture into the tin.
And then here comes the fun part.
You're going to take about
a cup and a half of whole raw pecans
and you can just pour them out
onto your cutting board.
Now you want to do this because even though
when you buy the whole raw pecans,
sometimes you'll find that some of them are broken
or they're not actually totally whole.
So save those for another recipe.
I've got a great one in a few weeks
you can use those for.
But right now, we're just looking for the ones
that are nice and intact.
And we're going to place them on top of our pie,
creating a circle all the way around.
It does help if you choose nuts
that are roughly the same height
so then that way they'll all kind of form
a nice circle together
and none will really stick out on you.
And you're going to create three concentric circles.
Once you do that, you'll end up
with a little space in the center
and you can go ahead and add your pecans
in any kind of decorative fashion you like.
And then we're going to place our tin
on a cookie sheet, pop it in the oven
at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.
At that point, check your pie
and if the pecans are getting too brown,
what I like to do is actually put a piece of foil on top
and bake it for another five to seven minutes more,
just until that pastry becomes golden brown.
Otherwise, what will happen is
nuts have a tendency of burning pretty quickly
and your pecans might start to brown and burn
before the rest of the crust is ready.
So do use a little tin foil.
That'll help with that.
Once your tart is ready,
allow it to cool completely.
The best thing about this tart
is it's actually better if you make it the day before
because then that fudge-y center
really has a chance to set up.
And then the way that I love to serve this tart
is with a dollop of bourbon scented whip cream.
It is really delicious and the combination
of chocolate pecan and bourbon
is such a classic Thanksgiving taste.
And if you don't drink, that's okay.
You can leave the bourbon out
and I would just use a little vanilla extract instead.
And the full recipe to my homemade whip cream
is in the description below.
I hope you guys give this one a try
and let me know what you think.
I think you'll find that this tart will be
a perfect compliment to all of the fruit pies
or crumbles that you may have
at your Thanksgiving table.
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And I will see you back here next week
for a quick and easy appetizer
if you need something in a flash.
All right, I'll see you then, bye.
(lively music)