chocolate chip frangipane with bittersweet ganache

All is right with the world in our neck of the woods this morning.  The turkeys are out feasting on all the fallen acorns, and the morning light is extra clear.  The storm turned out to be nothing more than a lot of rain and some gusty wind.  It was actually kind of pleasant, and we took a couple of walks to the beach during the day.  It was quite a build up for such a small event, but I guess it is better to be safe than sorry, and I know some areas did get hit much harder.  It feels like the storm has formally ushered in fall, there's a long golden slant to the sunlight this morning and a slight chill as the leaves are rustling in the last vestiges of Irene.  I had to go looking for some polar fleece ...

It's back to college this week, so while we still have a growing girl around to help us polish it off, I thought it might be a good time to make this.  I've wanted to make this all summer, but fruit just kept getting in the way. 

Almond and dark chocolate is a killer flavor combination.  Frangipane is a fluffy, almond  filling for tarts and other stuff like that, but it's most often paired with fruits and jam.  Substituting dark chocolate for the fruit just takes it to a whole other level.  It consists of a basic crust in a tart pan, filled with the chocolate chip frangipane, and topped with a dark chocolate ganache.  

Martha Stewart's No Fail Crust
makes 2 crusts

2 1/2 cups flour

2 sticks cold butter, cut in pieces

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1/4 cup ice water, plus more if necessary

• Put the flour salt and sugar in a processor and pulse to combine. 
• Add the pieces of butter and process until grainy.  
• While pulsing, add in the ice water, starting with 1/4 cup, just until the dough holds together when pressed between your fingers. 
• Empty the bowl of the processor onto a sheet of plastic wrap and bring it together into a dough.  
• Cut the amount in half, shape into disks, and wrap each disk in plastic.  
• Refrigerate for 2 hours before rolling out one of the disks for this tart.    

For the fragnipane:

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 cup almond flour
3 tablespoons dark rum
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

3/4 cup dark chocolate chips

• Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy.
• Mix in the rest of the ingredients, blend well.
• Pour into your pie shell, and bake at 400 for about 35-40 minutes, until the tart is golden and firm to the touch.

Almond flour can be found in most supermarket baking aisles these days.

I tested out another new extra dark chocolate chip this one from Guittard.  I still like the Nestle 
dark chocolate chip better.

For the ganache:

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

• Heat the cream in a bowl in the microwave or on the stove till simmering.  
• Take off the heat and add in the chocolate.  
• Let it sit for 10 minutes, then whisk until it's combined and glossy.  
• Let cool for 5 minutes, then pour over the top of the tart, smoothing if necessary.

This is so good.  Those 3 tbsp. of rum, the almond, and the bittersweet chocolate make for a very adult taste.  The college kid agrees.