I hope your week is off to a great start – can’t wait to get into making this delicious chocolate cherry tart! But first, it’s Secret Supper week here and I’m so excited! I’ll have loads of prep to do over the next few days and then we leave with our staff for the secret location first thing early Friday.
I can’t wait to cozy up and host another beautiful evening. Make sure to follow along with the #secretsupperpdx hashtag!
If you haven’t kept up with last week’s trip, you can see more at #autumnretreatny ! I hosted a food styling and photography workshop alongside Mike and Ashley of @gatherandfeast and it was so lovely.
The Beginning of a Chocolate Cherry Tart
I developed this paleo recipe for chocolate cherry tart at the beginning of Autumn and am so excited to be sharing it with you now!
I had cherries in my freezer from summer, and making this tart was the perfect way to use them (I’m a big fan of taking summer fruit and freezing it for later use — the flavor is always great this way). For these cherries, I rinsed them, patted each dry with a paper towel, removed the pit, and halved them. I then layered the cherries in a gallon freezer Ziploc bag and laid it flat in my freezer.
When I decided to make this chocolate cherry tart a few weeks later, they were all ready to go!
Yes, it took some time to get the cherries prepped and in the freezer — but having a cherry pitter on hand was super helpful, and it was a great opportunity to slow down for a bit in the kitchen. It was well worth the effort for this!
Enjoy this tart!!!
Chocolate Cherry Tart
Serves 8
Cherry Filling
- 3 c. cherries, pitted and halved
- 1 c. chai tea
- 1/3 c. honey
Chocolate Ganache Filling
- 4 oz dark chocolate, chopped
- 1-2 T coconut oil
Hazelnut Cardamom Crust
- 1 ½ c. Hazelnuts, raw
- 2 T. Brown rice flour
- ½ t. allspice
- ¼ t. Sea salt
- 2 Medjool dates, pitted
- ¼ c. Coconut oil
- 3 t. Honey
Lightly grease an 8” pie or tart pan with a remove-able bottom and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
For the crust, in a food processor, combine the first 5 ingredients and pulse until the nuts are finely chopped. In a small bowl, melt coconut oil in microwave. Add honey to oil and stir to combine. Slowly pour into food processor to coat mixture, pulsing as you pour. The mixture should start to stick together. Once this consistency is reached (it won’t take but a few seconds), place in tart pan, pressing in and up the sides. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and let cool for 30 minutes.
To prepare the cherry filling, in small saucepan, add tea, honey and cherries. Simmer on stove without lid and allow to simmer down to a compote for 1 hour on low. Remove from heat, cover with cheesecloth and allow to cool to room temperature.
As soon as you’re ready for the chocolate layer, in small saucepan, place chocolate and on low heat, warm just until melted. Remove from heat and stir in coconut oil until smooth. Remove from heat.
To finish tart, spread chocolate on crust and then top with cherry compote. Place back in oven and finish baking for 15 minutes. Turn off oven and allow to rest while oven cools. Serve warm or store in fridge, serve chilled. Store wrapped in pan for up to 3 days, can be made in advance for an easy party!
