I admit I’ve been on a bit of a pistachio kick lately. Pistachio millionaire’s shortbread and pistachio amaretti just to name two. I’ve made the amaretti a few more times lately - so, so delicious and pretty straight forward to boot. And the best thing is they hold beautifully in the freezer!

When I contemplate dessert ideas for a dinner gathering with friends (thanks Shirley!), a tarte (of course) is usually at the top of my list. How about caramel pistachio chocolate ganache - well that was easy!

First - a quick aside, health wise. Nuts are a favorite of mine, and I keep a stash of lightly seasoned, toasted mixed nuts on hand, usually walnuts, pecans and/or almonds. Along with my morning latte, I can jump start my day with fresh fruit, a small bowl of said nuts, some cubes of cheese and a small energy bite (almond butter, honey, toasted old fashioned oats and finely chopped dark chocolate). What a great way to fuel up for my mid morning exercise classes at our local fitness club - they lift my spirits every day!

OK - let’s get to work. This caramel-y, nutty, chocolate-y tarte is an amped up version of the chocolate ganache tarte which I have oft mentioned over the years. I posted specifically about the pristine all-ganache version on November 25, 2023 (click on the post in the right sidebar if you’d like to read about it.)

It’s a great dessert basic which comes together in a straight forward fashion. I keep it au naturel most of the time but when I want to add something to the flavor profile, bring in some crunch and dress it up, I go with a bottom layer of caramel and nuts in a blind baked pâte sucrée au chocolat shell (or choose a basic pâte sucrée). The ganache is then poured over and chilled to set then garnished with a little Chantilly cream and additional candied nuts (or however you might like to add your own touches).

**Pouring the ganache - this one’s from a few years back with mixed nuts/caramel in a *pâte sucrée* crust**

I’ve created a PDF for you which includes recipes for the chocolate dough, the ganache filling, my base caramel recipe plus guidelines for quantities of the components for different sized tartes. It’s all there for you.

For planning ahead, you can blind bake your tarte shell even a couple of days ahead and hold it in the freezer until you’re ready to proceed. I always have my house made caramel sauce in the fridge so I’m set there, but you can opt to use a decent store bought version. Have your choice of lightly toasted nuts ready - do that ahead as well since, once toasted, they’ll be fine in a covered container at room temp for several weeks.

On a caramel note - if I’ve EVER purchased store caramel, it’s been a long, long, long time! I did a quick look for highly recommended brands and it looks like Coop’s, Williams Sonoma and Trader Joe’s do a pretty good job. You definitely want something that isn’t too runny and those three are touted as thicker than many others. Look for good ingredients like cane sugar, cream, butter, maybe vanilla, a little sea salt. I avoid high fructose corn syrup at all costs.

Moving on . . . . fill the tarte shell early in the day of your event.

Below are an 8” tarte (used my 200 mm ring) with a couple small 65 mm / 2.5” ones on the side (extra for Steve and myself!). The caramel pistachio layer is spread in the baked tart shells with the mise for the ganache in the foreground.

For this I used a scant cup of toasted pistachios and a scant 3/4 cup caramel which works for either an 8” or 9” tarte. Here I simply kept a small amount aside for the two minis.

For the ganache heat the cream to a boil, pour over the chocolate and butter and blend. Blend in a teaspoon of espresso powder dissolved in 2 tablespoons hot water. Remember the recipe here.

Pour somewhat slowly as to avoid air bubbles. If they do happen, I pop them with the tip of a sharp knife. Let cool at room temperature for an hour or so. You don’t want to refrigerate immediately when the filling is still pretty warm - you’ll get unwanted moisture droplets forming on the surface. Not good. Then refrigerate for at least an hour to fully set the ganache. You can let it be in the fridge for several hours if needed before doing your final garnish.

As in this case, when preparing for a dinner gathering, I garnish the tarte an hour or two ahead - sprinkle on some chocolate crumbs leaving a bare edge for a nice piped ring of Chantilly. Lightly dust the crumbs with confectioner’s sugar for a light snowfall look. Hold in the fridge until 20 or so minutes before serving.

Once sliced, top each serving with an additional dollop of Chantilly and some lightly candied, chopped pistachios. So good.

The diners loved it!! It was a perfect end to Shirley’s “shrimp in purgatory” served over pasta along with a lovely side salad.

But . . . . . . before I go, one more chocolate pistachio creation. Using my go-to financier recipe, I subbed ground pistachios for half of the almond flour, made the base mixture and refrigerated it overnight. When it was time to bake, I finely chopped ~120 g 61% Guittard chocolate discs and blended them into the batter.

You see my favorite mini muffin sized silicone molds below, filled about 2/3 - 3/4 full.

Bake at 375º 15-18 minutes. Let rest a few minutes then turn out of the molds and let cool.

I froze some for later enjoyment - I do that a lot - then garnished a half dozen with dark chocolate ganache and a fine sprinkle of pistachio crumbs. Steve and enjoyed two and the remainder went to accompany some vanilla-buttercream-topped pear almond teacakes as a gift for friend Kim S.

May 2026 bring peace, joy and quietude - and plenty of baked treats for those you love!

The holidays are here and, as each day brings its own tasks to be tackled or projects to delight us, I want to send all of you my wishes for a very peaceful season.

And what better time to talk about chocolate!!

This ganache tarte is one of my all time faves. The more I consider all of the goodies I’ve created and written about over the years and the things I so enjoy making, the more I realize that the simplest things are usually the best. This delicious treat has been often requested and frequently made, but, believe it or not, even though I’ve perhaps referred to it in various iterations over the years, I’ve never given it top billing. So here goes.

During my Providence/Pawtucket days I made 80 mm individual versions for my retail space, keeping ‘em clean with a sprinkle of chocolate crunchy crumbs and a dusting of confectioner’s sugar. Plain and delicious. Then it’s up to the buyer to leave it au naturel and eat it out of hand or dress it up for serving - dollop on some whipped cream and a few fresh raspberries (for you fruit and chocolate lovers) or top with crunchy candied nuts or some sesame brittle.

The process utilizes some of the basics in tarte making - cooled blind baked shell; ganache filling poured in and cooled; garnish as you wish; serve and enjoy. Pretty straight forward. You can use either a pâte sucrée au chocolat or a standard pâte sucrée.

As an aside, I’m not intending to overwhelm but to explore options with you for creating your own version of a delicious ganache tarte!

As for planning ahead, be sure you make your chosen dough either the day before or early enough to allow an hour or two for the dough to chill in the fridge before rolling it out. An even better plan-ahead step is to make a double or triple batch of dough a week or two ahead, divide it into approximately 260-280 gram / 9-10 ounce portions and hold them in the freezer well wrapped. The dough keeps for months. Just thaw it in the fridge overnight before using.

You’ll fully blind bake the tarte shell first. When you’re ready, roll out the dough (generally about 260-280 grams / 9-10 ounces for a 9”) and line a 9” tart ring or fluted pan. Place it on a parchment lined sheet pan, prick the bottom all over with a fork and pop it into the freezer for 15-20 minutes to firm it up.

I often do various sizes for different venues. Roll with it (hah! - get it?). You’ll learn to figure out how much filling will work for certain sized tartes. I gauge a double batch of filling should fill the rings below (not including the little brioche tins).

You can actually do the lining step a day or two ahead and hold it in the freezer until baking day. No need to thaw it - just line with a round of parchment, fill with weights or dried beans. Bake at 350ºF for 12-15 minutes, then lift out the weights and parchment and bake an additional 5-8 minutes to fully bake/dry the bottom. Cool completely before filling.

As if there weren’t enough options for this tarte shell, here’s one more way to help with the plan-ahead process. You can freeze the fully baked shell too! There have been times that I’ve had a baked shell in my freezer for several weeks before I decided it was time to fill and enjoy it. So many possibilities!

The ganache filling is as simple as ganache can be. Place 227 g / 8 ounces of chopped dark chocolate or discs/feves in a medium heat proof bowl along with 28 g / 2 tablespoons unsalted butter. Heat 360 g / 1.5 cups heavy cream to boiling then pour the hot cream over the chocolate/butter. Let it sit a minute then gently blend with a whisk or spatula until smooth. Don’t be aggressive with the mixing - you don’t want to aerate it. Blend in 30 ml / 2 tablespoons brewed espresso - I often make a mix of 1/4 cup hot water with a half tablespoon espresso powder as a substitute for the brewed and use 30 ml of that.

Once the ganache is made, pour it directly into the blind baked shell.

Let it sit out at room temperature uncovered for an hour or so to let the heat dissipate before placing it into the fridge (again uncovered) to fully set. If you put it in the fridge right away, you’ll get condensation on the surface - not attractive, believe you me. Plus chocolate doesn’t like that.

Once chilled, garnish away! Crunchy chocolate crumbs, a light confectioner’s sugar dust, whipped cream and voila! It keeps covered in the fridge over several days so don’t feel like you have to eat it all right away!

An option for you nut lovers out there is to spread some toasted chopped nuts of choice coated in caramel on the bottom and pour the ganache over them. You can do fewer nuts and more ganache or more nuts and less ganache. Below are images of a few different sizes I experimented with for Thanksgiving a few years ago.

As for how you’d like to garnish your tarte, keep it simple by dolloping some Chantilly cream on each slice and adding some fresh raspberries. The pecan/caramel version below received a layer of chocolate crunchy crumbs, a dusting of confectioner’s sugar and a simple trio of toasted pecans. Yum.

For petite tartelettes, top the already set ganache with a lighter whipped version of chilled 2.5 parts cream to 1 part chocolate ganache and add a simple chocolate disc as decor.

Check out my ganache tips for more fun with ganache.

Nothing like a day late and a dollar short. These images are from late October but I had to share a bit of seasonal beauty with you. They say snow’s a comin’!

**Late season color after a first snowfall - October 31, 2023**

Here’s to comforting and grateful days, keeping our spirits and hearts bright, staying active and healthy and hoping for calm around the world. Cheers and, as always, happy baking!

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