Laundry is a Monday rhythm for me. I descend 29 floors down the elevator, carrying the overflowing basket of clothes and dish towels on my hip. Our laundry room connects to our apartment lobby, and it’s usually quiet on Mondays.
“I’m calling it ‘Trouble,’” I heard as I walked toward the laundry room door. I turned around to see Gina, the lobby receptionist peering at me with wide eyes over her mask. “Pam agreed it was Trouble. I found myself licking my hands.” After a few seconds of trying to figure out exactly what she was referring to, I remembered the Chocolate-Tahini Tart. I had given her four slices to share with the other staff on Friday, but hadn’t heard a report back. Apparently this one was her favorite Alison dessert so far.
It’s mine and Jordan’s favorite so far, too. My mother-in-law took one bite of it and said, “I want this on my birthday.”
A brief description is in order. The tart’s crust is a chocolate shortbread. Dry ingredients such as flour and cocoa powder are mixed together with a stick of melted butter and pressed into the tart pan to bake. This was my first time using my own tart pan, which I received as a birthday present last month. I love the clean lines of the fluted crust exterior. The pan’s shape makes me feel like a more experienced baker. The crust is baked and set aside to cool for at least an hour. The filling is also simple – chocolate and tahini melted by simmering honey and heavy cream, stirred together and poured into the crust. Top the crust with a generous sprinkle of flaky sea salt (Maldon is the way to go here) and set aside to cool and set. It can be kept on the counter, wrapped tightly, for a few days.
I used bittersweet Pound Plus chocolate from TJ’s. The bitter chocolate combined with the subtly nutty tahini kept the filling from being too sweet, which could have been the tart’s downfall. Instead it was just the right amount of rich, the right amount of sweet, the right amount of salt. A balanced, delicate yet substantial, dessert that makes it impossible to avoid seconds. I wonder if it can be beat?
61 recipes cooked, 164 to go.
