Chocolate Ganache Tartlettes

There’s a wedding coming up, and boy are we excited!

(Before you jump the gun, it isn’t my wedding. Our friends are the ones getting hitched!)

Agustin’s and Barbi’s wedding, which will be held at the end of March just as Autumn saunters her way in, is pretty much THE EVENT of the year. In the last one year, it seems that our group of friends can barely talk about anything else.

You see, among Juan’s group of close friends, Agustin will be the first to get married – and the excitement is infectious.

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And because Juan is going to be one of the witnesses when Agustin and Barbi sign their civil vows, he’s definitely psyched up too.

Now that us girlfriends have formed a pretty tight bunch, we’ve spent the last few months planning our outfits (but somehow have yet to come to a decision), talking about the wedding organization, and discussing wedding jitters.

I’m pretty sure 90 percent of our Whatsapp group conversations have been revolving around Agustin and Barbi tying the knot, and all in all, it’s a tremendously joyous period.

It’s been a long while since I got so excited about a wedding, the last one being my Aunt Esther’s back in 2009.

And the part I love best about this – aside from our dress-shoe-bag strategizing and our girly chats and random hangouts and the hen party we threw for Barbi this weekend – is that it’s a celebration of two people who decide to spend their lives together.

I’m a romantic girl at heart (have always been), and weddings always make me cry. And this time, given that we’ve been anticipating the event for the longest of time – just one more month to go! – I’m pretty sure I’ll be more than tearing when the day finally comes.

As with all celebrations, this will not be complete without some rich, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate.

And so, in this month of March, as we party and look forward with joy to this amazing event, let’s feast on chocolate – or in this case, chocolate ganache tartlettes!

Mini tarts with a buttery base framing the most delicious and easiest-to-make ganache ever!

(Remember the chocolate truffles I made last year? This ganache, barely adapted from The Joy of Baking, was the secret to the truffles’ success!)

And so…..

To life, love and happy marriages!

CHOCOLATE GANACHE TARTLETTES (Makes 4 mini tarts)
Ganache barely adapted from: The Joy of Baking

Ingredients:

For the tart shells:
1) 400g of all-purpose flour
2) 200g of butter, cubed
3) 200g of water
4) 2 egg yolks
5) A pinch of salt

For the chocolate ganache:
6) 300g of semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped into small pieces
7) 180g of heavy whipping cream
8) 40g of butter, cut into small pieces
9) Slivered almonds or fresh berries, for garnishing (optional)

Steps:

Make the tart shells:
1) Mix flour, salt and butter together, adding the yolk and a bit of water at a time to incorporate the ingredients until you get a dough that’s neither too dry nor sticky (if too sticky, add a little bit of flour; if too dry, add a bit more water)
2) Without kneading too much, divide the dough into four and form four small discs, cover with plastic wrap, and let the discs chill for about 30 minutes in the refrigerator
3) Pre-heat oven to 180 deg cel
4) After dough has chilled, remove from refrigerator. Sprinkle flour generously over a flat, cool surface, and place dough discs on top.
5) Use a floured wooden rolling pin to pat down the dough discs one at a time, then roll it vertically & horizontally to expand the circle, before rolling it outwards in 360 degrees until it is large enough to cover both the base and height of the tart mould
6) Grease the mini tart molds with either butter or cooking oil
7) Gently place the rolled dough circles over the mini tart molds, making sure to fit it well, and then use a fork to poke holes in it (so the dough doesn’t inflate when it bakes)
8) Bake tart shells slightly in the oven for 20 minutes or until slightly golden and no longer soft (if necessary, bake two mini tarts at a time)

Make the chocolate Ganache:
9) While tart shells is cooling, roughly chop the chocolate into small pieces, and then place in a medium-sized heat-proof bowl, then set aside
10) In a small pot, heat up the cream and the pieces of chopped butter over medium heat and then bring to a boil
11) Pour the butter-cream mixture over the chocolate and then allow it to stand for a couple of minutes before stirring well until smooth (if the chocolate doesn’t melt completely, heat it in the microwave for 20 seconds)

Assemble the tart:
12) Pour chocolate ganache mixture into the cooled tart shells and decorate with slivered almonds
13) Allow chocolate ganache to chill for at least two hours to overnight before serving

P.S. If you like chocolate, especially this chocolate ganache featured in the recipe above, I guarantee you’ll love these chocolate truffles. Sooo good.