S’mores Tarts – Little Bites of Chocolate Summer Bliss
Posted By Dawn On August 20, 2011 @ 8:29 pm In chocolate,dessert,pie | 8 Comments
I first saw s’mores tarts in the bakery case at a local café and thought they were a brilliant idea! I didn’t get one right away, but I kept thinking of them. Next time I returned to the café they were gone. I thought they must be easy enough to make, then life got in the way and I forgot.
Recently a local restaurant put them on their dessert menu. Yum! I was fortunate enough to have them twice before they were replaced with another decadent dessert. This time I sucked two of my friends into the obsession with me. I knew it was time to act.
I find these very rich so I made them tiny, about 2 inches by 2 inches. You can make them larger if you prefer, with a lower yield. So don’t stress if you can’t find just the right tart pan. I do highly recommend you use tart pans with removable bottoms, however, or you’ll have a time of it trying to get the tarts out in one piece.
Because the chocolate plays such a key roll in this recipe, don’t skimp on this ingredient. Use the best chocolate you can find within your budget. I was too tired to drive to a specialty shop for Valrhona or Sharffen Berger, so I just used Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips. In addition to being readily available at the grocery store, they also have the benefit of being ready to go without chopping first. I chose bittersweet chocolate because it would be cut down with cream, but if you prefer milk chocolate or semi-sweet that’ll work fine too.
Recipe: S’mores Tarts
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 12 minutes
Yield: 24 mini tarts
Ingredients
- 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 144 mini marshmallows (about 1 1/2 cups)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease 24 mini tart pans. (I use two 12-well pans with removable bottoms with wells approximately 2 by 2 inches.)
- Combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Stir till combined.
- Press crumb mixture into bottoms and sides of tart pans. You’ll use just over 1 tablespoon per tart.
- Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, then let cool until pans are cool enough to handle.
- Meanwhile place chocolate pieces in large bowl.
- Heat cream in microwave for 1 to 2 minutes or over low heat until just below boiling. Pour over chocolate pieces and let sit several minutes.
- Stir cream/chocolate mixture until smooth. It will look pale and chunky at first, but keep stirring. It will smooth out and get very dark.
- Spoon mixture into tart pans, using approximate 1 1/2 tablespoons per tart.
- Before chocolate sets, top each tart with about 6 mini marshmallows.
- Use a culinary torch set to low to very carefully brown the tops of the marshmallows. Be prepared to blow out any small flames as the marshmallows can ignite very easily.
- Refrigerate tarts at least 4 hours or overnight and serve.
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