Guest Baker from Istanbul

Cenk made this amazing tart and sent me the recipe and I could not resist having him on my blog as a guest baker. We lived together more than 2 years @ 645 22nd Avenue (prime location if you are into foggy Sundays) and if you can believe it, we rarely baked at those times....Maybe once or twice....However, Cenk cooked a lot and I got to eat tons in those days:)))

The picture above was taken around 2002, when all my friends were in town for New Years and Cenk is the cutest guy on the picture, if you still have trouble locating him, he is the second guy on the left.

These days, I keep bugging him to move back and help me start my business and he keeps bugging me to move back and start something in Istanbul...We'll see what will happen....

About the tart, he created his own stencil, so feel free to do your own as well...Polka dots would be fun, as well as stripes or you can go free style and just dust powdered sugar on top the cooled tart. Hope you like it, I wish I had a slice!



Chocolate Ganache Tart

a Martha Stewart recipe

Serves 10; Prep time: 25 minutes; Total time: 2 hours 20 minutes

Ingredients
3 tablespoons slivered blanched almonds
6 tablespoons sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
2 teaspoons grated orange or lemon zest (optional)
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 1/4 cups heavy cream1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Make dough: In a food processor, pulse almonds until finely ground. Add sugar, flour, zest (if desired), and salt; pulse until combined. Add butter, pulsing until coarse crumbs form with no large butter lumps (dough should clump together when squeezed with fingers).

2. Immediately transfer dough to a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Using a measuring cup, evenly press dough in bottom and up sides of pan.

3. Bake in center of oven until golden brown and firm to the touch, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, about 1 hour.

4. Make ganache: Place chocolate in a large mixing bowl. In a small saucepan, bring cream to a boil. Pour hot cream, through a sieve, over chocolate. Stir until smooth and creamy in texture. Mix in vanilla.

5. Pour chocolate mixture into center of cooled tart shell (if chocolate is lumpy, pass through a sieve). Let stand until set, about 2 hours, or chill for 1 hour.

Thank you for sharing Zozi! Lots of kisses and hugs! I think this tart should be on our menu!

Update: I changed the original picture I posted yesterday due to ill-willed email threats I got from my guest baker (!)..Apparently, he did not want to be discovered by GQ:) Damn, these confident good looking guys, piece of work:)