Tuesday, April 28, 2009

TWD--Chocolate Cream Tart and Some "REAL" Good Cookies

Hi all!  Hope you've had a great week.  For Tuesday's With Dorie this week, we all made the Chocolate Cream Tart on pages 352-53 in Dorie Greenspan's great book, Baking From My Home to Yours.  You can find the recipe this week on Kim's amazing blog, Scrumptious Photography.  She is SO not kidding about the title of her blog.  Her photos are always just that--scrumptious!  Another thing I love about Kim's blog is that she always post the nutrition information about the things we bake at TWD, but it's hidden, so you don't have to look if you don't want to know, but I really like seeing it.  Thanks, Kim! 

So, about the tart--it was just okay for me.  And I really only had a bite, but it's the same thing every time.  I just don't think I love bittersweet chocolate.  I think I would have liked it more with regular ol' semi sweet, or even milk chocolate, but I made a 1/2 recipe in a six inch round cake pan and used a 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate.  I used 2% milk instead of whole milk.  I made the chocolate shortbread tart also.  It was not my favorite.  I REALLY wanted to make this again with the Sweet Tart Dough, but ended up not getting that done.  On what sounds like a real downer here, the tart was well received and eaten by some friend's of mine.  They all liked it.  Kevin later had a piece and said it was good, but definitely rich.  I'm also enjoying making these fillings and custards and the like in some of Dorie's recipes as I haven't made things from scratch like that until joining TWD.  It is so simple.  The filling/custard came together without a hitch and I love how easy it really is when it thickens on the stove.  I also committed a terrible "sin" here and just topped it with "the other white stuff" (Cool Whip).  Also because I thought it was too bittersweet, before the topping, I drizzled a little caramel ice cream topping over it. 

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Bad lighting.

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This is how I took it to some friends.

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After bringing a little of it home and it sitting in the fridge covered for a day, I served some to Kevin and the boys and decided to snap a picture of a slice, but the "whip" had been mashed, so I smoothed it out.  Still, I thought it took a pretty good picture.

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So really, I plan to make this again someday with the non-chocolate crust and not such a bittersweet chocolate.  Thanks, Dorie and thanks for the fun pick, Kim!  Thanks for stopping by my blog, especially all the fellow TWDers.  I really enjoy being a part of this great group!

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On a different note, but scrumptious to me, I made these cookies today that Anna at Cookie Madness posted.  They are a healthy cookie with raw cane sugar, oats and oat flour, banana and instead of soy milk, I used skim milk.  There are no eggs in the recipe and one little teaspoon of oil.  I knew that would mean cakey cookies, but that was okay.  These cookies also have a few mini chocolate chips in them, which makes them all the better.  I would call these muffin tops.  When you're purposely depriving yourself of super indulgent goodies, these kinds of cookies will do. 

They were good like this:

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but EVEN BETTER in sandwich form with my favorite peanut butter  (Naturally More) in between, then chilled in the freezer for 10-20 minutes.  Yum!

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That's what I'm talking about!

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Great snack!

30 comments:

Anna said...

Wow! You made them. Based on your and someone else's review, I thought about making them today too. But I can't decide if I want these or Jenny Flake's peanut butter banana cookies. I've yet to try those as well.

Sorry you didn't love the tart.

Amanda said...

Wow it looks fabulous!! I love the cookies too, YUM!!

I absolutely was in love with this tart! So creamy and delish. Even better after a day in the fridge MMMMMMMMM

If you ever decide to make it again, try a different chocolate if you prefer semi sweet over bittersweet. I used 1 oz of semisweet as I just didn't have enough bittersweet on hand.

Thank you for your wonderful comments on my blog!! :) :) :)

Megan said...

Aww - too bad you didn't love the tart!

Although those "healthy" cookies look quite tasty, especially with the peanut butter.....

chocolatechic said...

Rarely do I use bittersweet...and if I do, I cut it with something lighter.

I used semi-sweet to a mellow dark chocolate for mine.

Kara said...

Oh I like the idea of the caramel drizzled over the top. I love bittersweet and dark chocolate, so this is right up my alley, but H is more a milk-chocolate person, so I understand wanting more sweetness.

Soy*Baby said...

Sorry you didn't love this one. I'm not a huge bittersweet chocolate fan either but for some reason I loved this. Your tart is super cute. Your cookies look really good too.

Kayte said...

Gorgeous on that tart! Absolutely lovely. And the cookies as well. What a lot of baking you are up to over there...with such wonderful results!

PheMom said...

I love how your tart turned out, sorry it wasn't a hit for you though! Those cookies look awesome!

Anonymous said...

oh my goodness. I love the cookies! they look SO gooey and chewy! and sandwiched with peanut butter...perfection! why not add in a dollop of jelly as well?

noble pig said...

Oh my word that oozing peanut butter has me in a tizzy.

Steph (I am Bee) said...

wow! those cookies look FANTABULOUS!

Pamela said...

Well, those cookies definitely look like a nice, delicious treat! Love that PB coming out of the cookie. The tart looks good, and the caramel was a very nice touch. I used a little of bittersweet and some plain dark chocolate. It was rich, but still good. Sorry it wasn't a winner. And keep up the good work! I really enjoy your blog!

TeaLady said...

OOOOO!!!!! Caramel. Sounds fantastic. Cake looks great - despite the 'other' topping. Great job.

I used semi sweet instead of bitter and liked it a lot.

Like the cookies, too.

vibi said...

AH! Man... admit it! admit you are trying to kill me!!! You are trying to get me to fall in diabetic coma through this screen!

Arg... the caramel on that tart is not calling my name, it is screaming it! LOL

Simply Mouthwatering!

Mermaid Sews said...

Caramel you say? I might do that - mine is not done yet, just made the crust last night. And you are KILLING me with the peanut butter sandwhich cookies.

Clumbsy Cookie said...

I was also curious about those cookies but I actually thought you'd make them first, lol! And I was right!
I'm glad you're having fun learning how to do all sorts of creams with TWD. The tart looks great with the caramel but I think I'm with you on the crust.

Elyse said...

Oh man, I bet the tart ended up totally delicious when you put the caramel and "whipped stuff" on there. We totally speak the same dessert language, Katrina!! Your tart looked sooo pretty, too. Can't wait to hear what you think after you re-do with the semi-sweet chocolate and sweet tart dough. OH, and those "muffin top" cookies sound fabulous. Again, your totally know how to get to me: PB sandwiched in between...amazing!

Jaime said...

definitely try it w/the semisweet chocolate - i don't like the bittersweet either! i just used nestle tollhouse chips for mine! :)

Unknown said...

Sounds like we were on the same page with not liking the bittersweet chocolate. I was glad I made the sweet tart dough and not the chocolate tart but next time I'll definitely use milk chocolate! Your tart looks fantastic!

Anonymous said...

oooh i love the cookies with the peanut butter in the middle! what a great idea! i definitely want to make these!

Teanna said...

Oh those cookies look AWESOME! The tart looks great too, I had a tough time with this one, but those cookies! WOW!

Nancy/n.o.e said...

So now you know how to make a choc cream pie that YOU will love! I can see why your friends loved it the way you did make it, though - I'm a fan of the dark stuff.

And pb + oatmeal + choc = perfect snack.
Nancy

Judy said...

Sorry you didn't like the chocolate tart, but boy I'm drooling for real. I didn't like BSchocolate at firsteither, but it has grown on me and now I love love love it.

Anonymous said...

Both the tart and the cookies look great! Sometime you should taste a number of dark chocolates and see if there is one you like better than others. Some of them have a liqueur taste to me that I'm not fond of, and since you've mentioned before that you don't drink alcohol that might be what you don't like about dark chocolate. Just a thought!

Rebecca said...

I'm with you on the chocolate – bittersweet's NOT for me. But you add-ons to the tart and cookies look so freaking good. Whoa.

Cathy said...

Sorry you weren't totally in love with the tart, but I bet if you make with the changes you are talking about next time around, it'll wow you. Cookies look great too!

Julie C said...

Oh man, that tart was great! I thought it was just the right amount of sweetness with the bittersweet chocolate. I'm sure semi-sweet would be good too though.

Anonymous said...

Too bad the tart was only okay for you. The cookies look wonderful! YUM!

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Anonymous said...

I will have to try those cookies. Sorry this wasn't your fave. I have subbed different chocolates in TWD when I am in the mood. If you don't like bittersweet, don't torture yourself!