Chocolate Crusted Lemon Tart

I get cranky if I haven't baked for a long time.

When I'm cranky, I don't want to bake.

Well. Thank god I managed to break that vicious cycle.

Chocolate Pecan Pie

This is a story about a chocolate pecan pie. (Feel free to sing along :)

Early morning, girl wakes up,

Chop chop chop, on the board,

It's time to bake up, perfect smell,

It's you they're all eating for, they go:

Chocolate, Pear and Ginger Tart

I'm kind of cheating again, I did make this tart in January when I met up with some friends, and it was my 'thank you for hosting present'. And then when I got home I was going to blog about it, because it was from my Green & Black's cookbook!

But then this phenomenon called laziness took over and I decided to take a nap instead.

I mean, it's not like I've been sleeping for the last two months, I just never got round to it ;) But it's perfect because I've performing in a dance show tomorrow and in between pirouetting around the stage at trying to calculate multiple game theory equilibria (sadly not simultaneously, now THAT would be time saving), I haven't really had time to bake (I know, I know, if my cake tin had emotions, it would be weeping from neglect).

But anyway, here it is, in all of its ginger and pear and chocolate glory, ready to be baked by wonderful people like YOU! :)

Chocolate and Salted Caramel Tart

As my uni friends were coming to stay for a few days, I decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to bake some serious nom. I hadn't attempted this recipe before for two reasons: no way on earth would anyone in my family eat this (they're too asian and anti-chocolate), thus leaving me with 14 people's worth of tart to eat myself (not good); and that I had to make caramel from scratch. But there's a first time for everything.

I have to warn you now though, to cut them into slices BEFORE serving/eating them. They are rich, but deliciously mooreish. The chocolate ganache isn't overpoweringly sweet so that the caramel taste really comes through, and the bite from the pastry provides some buttery crunch with the melt-in-the-mouth texture of the topping. Beware, after a few days in the fridge, the pastry goes a bit soft, so, uh...don't leave it unfinished for too long....