Dark Chocolate Tart with Espresso Whipped Cream

This is what your morning coffee dreams about. A chocolate crust, not-too-sweet dark chocolate filling topped with luscious swirls of deep espresso flavored whipped cream. NOTE: Do not substitute Oreos or baking crumbs for the graham crackers. Their higher fat content will cause butter to leak out of the pan and ruin your day. Some have had good luck with chocolate teddy grahams but I haven’t tried it myself.

Servings

Ingredients

For Chocolate Crust:

145 X 2 1/4 inch chocolate graham crackersabout 7 ounces, finely ground
1stick buttermelted
6tablespoons sugar

For Dark Chocolate Filling:

1 1/4cup heavy cream
9ounces bittersweet or dark chocolatenot more than 65% cacao, chopped or in chips
2large eggs
1teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4teaspoons salt

For Espresso Whipped Cream:

4teaspoons warm water
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
1teaspoon espresso powderor 1 packet Starbucks Via
1cup heavy whipping creamvery cold
1/3cup powdered sugar

Instructions

For Chocolate Crust:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine graham crackers, butter and sugar then press evenly into the bottom and sides of a 10″w x 2″h tart pan. Bake for 10 minutes then cool on a rack for at least 15 minutes.

For Filling:

Boil cream, then pour over chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Let stand 5 minutes then stir until smooth. Let cool until no longer warm to the touch.
Whisk together the eggs, vanilla, and salt in a separate bowl then stir into the chocolate mixture until smooth.
Pour filling into the cooled crust. Bake until filling is set around the edges but still just a bit wobbly in the middle, about 20 minutes. Cool completely (about an hour) on a rack.

Make Espresso Whipped Cream:

In your smallest pan, combine gelatin, espresso powder and warm water. Let stand until thickened.
Heat over low heat until gelatin and espresso are just dissolved. Remove from heat. Do not allow it to set, move directly on to the next step.
In a cold bowl, with a cold whisk attachment, with the mixer on high, beat the cream and powdered sugar until slightly thickened.
Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly pour in the gelatin mixture. Then whip at high speed until stiff peaks form and it is thick enough to pipe.
With a 1M tip, pipe the whipped cream in large rosettes onto the top of the cooled tart, filling in any gaps with small stars. The tart should keep, covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.