Warm Chocolate & Banana Tart
(Click on the picture for the food porn view)
In case you haven’t noticed, i have a giant sweet tooth. The same sweet tooth that caused me to lose about $40K in a dessert business venture a few years back but that’s a long story i rather not get into just yet. You would think that taking such a shower would permanently cure me from the sweet lovin’ side of me. Well, guess what? It didn’t.
As anyone with a giant sweet tooth chocolate plays a big part in my cravings. So i’ve been searching and searching for the ultimate chocolate dessert and today i can affirm this chocolate-banana tart is my all-time favorite. You may ask me again tomorrow and i may give you a whole different answer because err.. i change my mind a lot, but i can assure you that this recipe will never be too far from the top of the list. Pinky swear!
Of course, pastry mastermind Pierre Hermé created this recipe. Who else would think of caramelizing bananas with a sliver of ultra hot habanero pepper and finishing them up with a few turns of black pepper? Who else would think of adding rum macerated raisins to this already brilliant combination? Who else does emulsify a chocolate ganache at such a precise temperature to create the silkiest, richest texture ever? Who else does wear his underpants upside down? err.. Oh no, wait, that was me yesterday.
I took the liberty to slightly simplify this recipe. Should you trust someone who wears his underpants the wrong way, you asked? Well, i see your point my friends but i know how to take a shortcut when i see one, plus i was already late for work.. err.. which has nothing to do with this chocolate tart. Essentially, i used my own (simpler) version of pate sucree, increased the amount of habanero and i doubled.. yes, doubled the amount of banana used in the original recipe. There’s no such thing as too much of a good thing in my opinion. I didn’t mess with the ganache recipe though. It’s sacred.
Once again, let’s bow to the King who created this recipe and to Dorie Greenspan for bringing it to the English-speaking public in “Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
Enjoy!
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Chocolate-Banana Tart
Adapted from “Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé” by Dorie Greenspan - serves 6
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For the Sweet Tart Dough:
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- Pinch of salt
- 9 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 large egg
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For the Raisins & Caramelized Bananas:
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
- 3 tablespoons dark rum
- 3 tablespoons water
- 2 ripe bananas
- 1/2 lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons butter, unsalted
- 1/2 habanero pepper, or to taste
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- a pinch of freshly ground black pepper
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For the Chocolate Ganache:
- 5 ounces bittersweet chocolate (preferably Valhrona Gastronomie 61%), finely chopped
- 4 ounces butter (unsalted), cut into 8 pieces
- 1 large egg (room temp’)
- 3 large egg yolks (room temp’)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
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For the Sweet Tart Dough:
- Sift together the confectioners’ sugar, flour and salt into a bowl.
- Place the butter into a food processor and process until smooth.
- Scatter the flour mixture over the butter, add the egg and process just until the dough forms a mass; do not overmix.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least for an hour.
- When ready, line a greased 9 inch tart pan with half the dough and chill for 30 minutes. Keep the rest for another use.
- Preheat oven to 375′F. Line the dough with aluminum foil and fill with pie weights, dry rice or beans.
- Bake for 10 minutes then remove the aluminum + weights and return the tart to the oven for 5 minutes more.
- Let the tart shell cool on a rack.
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For the Raisins & Caramelized Bananas:
- Combine the raisins, rum and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow them to macerate a few hours.
- Slice the bananas and cut them into 1/8 inch thick rounds. Toss them in the lemon juice.
- Melt the butter with the habanero pepper in a large nonstick saute pan. Remove the pepper when the butter starts to bubble (leave it longer for spicier results). Add the banana slices to the pan (avoiding to crowd the pan too much) and sprinkle the sugar over the bananas. Cook until they’re a nice golden brown and flip them over to caramelize the other side. Add the black pepper. Cook one more minute and transfer them to a paper towel-lined baking sheet.
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For the Chocolate Ganache & Finish:
- Fill the crust with the caramelized bananas (putting 6 slices aside for decoration) and macerated raisins.
- Melt the chocolate and butter in a bain-marie in 2 separate bowls. Let them cool to 104′F (measured with an instant-read thermometer). This is a crucial step to achieve the creamy, silky chocolate texture.
- In a mixing bowl, gently stir together the egg yolks, egg and sugar. Be careful not to beat too much air into the eggs. When the chocolate is at 104′F, gently stir it into the egg mixture using a rubber spatula the same way you would emulsify a mayonnaise, with steady, gentle concentric circles. When the chocolate is incorporated repeat the same operation with the butter at 104′F. When the mixture is smooth and shiny, pour it into the crust to cover the caramelized bananas and raisins.
- Bake the tart at 375′F for exactly 11 minutes. It will be still a little jiggly but that’s normal.
- The tart is ready to eat as soon as it comes out of the oven. It was just as good a few hours later. And it was amazing the next day as well. Do not refrigerate it!
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March 25th, 2010 at 10:53 pm
Oh my…I will not use religious words here, but this is incredible! You cannot continue to do this to those of us that need a diet! The pictures are truly amazing!
March 25th, 2010 at 11:07 pm
I almost fell out of my chair when I saw this! This looks amazing you are SO talented!
March 25th, 2010 at 11:15 pm
Oh goodness, I’m wiping the drool off the keyboard. I got that book recently, and now I know what I’m going to make first.
March 25th, 2010 at 11:32 pm
Oh dear. You are ruining my dieting resolve.
March 26th, 2010 at 12:32 am
cant go wrong with banana’s n chocs… love it
March 26th, 2010 at 2:43 am
Dear Lord, please keep my away from this temptation!! Zenman, you are no good for anyone with a weight issue!!
March 26th, 2010 at 3:46 am
Good idea!Delicious food!But i want to diet before i read it.Now,i do not want to diet.
March 26th, 2010 at 5:05 am
Humph, PH can eat his heart out cos I just dipped a banana in Nutella and ate it. Just kidding
I’ve been salivating over this recipe in the book for a long time now! I should really give that book another look, it’s been too long-ignored.
By the way… How in the world does one wear underpants upside-down??
March 26th, 2010 at 5:47 am
I love the pictures!!! Amazing!
March 26th, 2010 at 7:25 am
That tart is perfection! Love the caramelized banana slices on top.
March 26th, 2010 at 7:52 am
I have now picked out my next ‘cheat day’ dessert. This looks incredible !
March 26th, 2010 at 8:03 am
I have this book, and seeing the recipe come to life on your blog is a sacred experience.
March 26th, 2010 at 8:32 am
You should be ashamed of yourself – subjecting us to this over-the-top food porn first thing in the morning.
March 26th, 2010 at 8:32 am
But could I have a slice later today?
March 26th, 2010 at 9:05 am
drooooooooooooooooool. looks a-mazing!
March 26th, 2010 at 9:08 am
That’s a whole load of processes! But it sure does look worth the effort. Scrumptious.
Get in my mouth.
March 26th, 2010 at 9:10 am
Oh WOW this looks amazing!
March 26th, 2010 at 9:35 am
Wow! Delicious! sigh…
March 26th, 2010 at 10:04 am
oh my god. that looks amazing….!
March 26th, 2010 at 11:11 am
This looks awesome! Could you do this with Nutella? Let me know. I am trying to come up with 365 ways to use Nutella.
March 26th, 2010 at 12:34 pm
Wow, this looks wonderful. Great job!!!!!
March 26th, 2010 at 1:27 pm
That’s a killer!!
March 26th, 2010 at 1:47 pm
I would love to try it but cannot have alcohol. Is there something you can use to replace the Rum?
Thank you
March 26th, 2010 at 2:00 pm
Nutty4Nutella — You can’t substitute nutella for chocolate in this recipe. It wouldn’t work. Herme has a Nutella tart recipe in the same book though.
Lil — Skip the rum! Just boil the raisins in water only so they get nice and plump.
March 26th, 2010 at 3:58 pm
You & your dessert recipes…there’s a special place in hell for you
I’m sending you my personal trainers bill. I don’t have one yet, but I’m gonna need one after I stuff that whole tart in my face!
March 26th, 2010 at 7:06 pm
I love pierre herme. His desserts are amazing. This one looks spectacular. I love caramelized bananas.
March 26th, 2010 at 8:52 pm
Oh yes, ‘Chocolate Desserts’ and ‘Desserts’ by Piere Herme are 2 of my favourite cookbooks for dessert treats. What is delightful is, despite of his Guru status, these recipes in his books are very actually very achievable for mortals like us. Your tart looks absolutely beautiful!
March 27th, 2010 at 9:42 am
Me want food!! Wow this looks so good! Can I use really ripe bananas? I wasn’t to make this tonight so email me @ noellsky@gmail.com. thanks
March 27th, 2010 at 10:44 am
Noelle — Yes, you can. Just don’t crowd the pan too much when you caramelized them so they don’t turn mushy. If they do, they’ll still be good though. Good luck!
March 27th, 2010 at 10:58 am
This looks ridiculously good. I HAVE to make this. Or alternatively maybe you could FedEx a slice to London?
March 27th, 2010 at 11:01 am
Oh! I want! That looks incredible! Thank you for sharing!
March 27th, 2010 at 8:55 pm
How could I resist it when Stephen , you made it so mouth watering good. Send a piece over…that is too much for you alone…share some with me :p
March 28th, 2010 at 4:31 am
Chocolate and banana… is there a more perfect combination? Well, maybe there is, but this is one of my personal favorites! Looks so good.
Magda
March 28th, 2010 at 9:49 am
This looks spectacular, The caramelized bananas look like they blend very well with that gorgeous chocolate ganache!!
March 28th, 2010 at 12:55 pm
[...] Warm Chocolate and Banana Tart (food porn alert) [...]
March 28th, 2010 at 5:28 pm
Amazing tarte! Made it today and will remain on my recipe list. The top was not as shiny as it is on your photos. Any hint – perhaps a bit shorter baking time (I used fan forced oven)?
March 28th, 2010 at 5:51 pm
Matev — Thanks for trying this recipe! If you use a convection oven you should definitely shorten the cooking time by a few minutes.
March 29th, 2010 at 8:52 pm
this looks amazing!
March 30th, 2010 at 2:44 pm
Words are not sufficient to express my desire for this tart. It is possible that this is my favorite recipe post of yours to date… and that’s saying a lot. Beautiful!
April 13th, 2010 at 6:08 am
Absolutely stunning!
April 22nd, 2010 at 2:30 am
Adding rum and (uh) habanero pepper can bring up a great tasting experience for the taster. Awesome! and thank you for the recipe book that you referred to us.
May 24th, 2010 at 1:36 am
[...] Bananų ir šokolado tart’as Warm Chocolate and Banana Tart [...]
August 11th, 2010 at 3:58 pm
I intend to make this tart this weekend. Gonna post pictures on my blog. I wish I never discovered your website, now I will never lose weight. But that is of course not your fault.
August 11th, 2010 at 5:06 pm
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