Floriole's Chocolate Ganache Meringue Tart

I spend a lot of time reading Lottie + Doof, and he spends a lot of time talking about Floriole, a legendary sounding bakery and cafe in Chicago that I am totally antsy to visit. My baking partner in crime is pals with the gal who runs Floriole's savory program too, and between reports of grapefruit tarts and braised beef sandwiches with onion jam, I'm pretty certain that a trip to Chicago is in order specifically to stuff my face.

Last week, Emily and I were chatting about Floriole and farming (more on that soon!) and baking school, when I saw that Floriole's owner, Sandra Holl, had been on the Martha Stewart show to share this outrageously delicious and straightforward chocolate ganache tart with meringue. Perfect timing, because last Friday the other folks behind the Mod Attelet supper club and I decided to have a "staff" dinner, and I signed up to make dessert, of course.

It was a very Chicago-bakers week for me since I took a stab -- with some tweaks -- at this tart recipe and paired it with Lottie + Doof's burnt blood orange ice cream for the dinner. I drank myself into an egg white cocktail stasis that evening too, but the evening's mushroom soup and the étouffée were outstanding. I thought I had messed up the tart a bit since the meringue was sort of sliding around on the drive over (I hadn't anchored it to the crust that time around), but it tasted so dang delicious I don't know that anyone noticed.

And if you're a meringue devotee, then this is the technique for you: the egg whites and sugar are cooked slightly before being whipped, and the meringue is torched or broiled instead of being baked through. It made for a very marshmallowy, sweet-but-not-overly-so, lovely textured meringue; it comes out tasting a bit like seven-minute boiled frosting. The whole tart is a cinch to put together too -- you should definitely give it a whirl! Or, you know, road trip to Chicago and pick me up along the way.

Chocolate Ganache Tart with Meringue
Inspired by Floriole's Sandra Holl; click here for original

Initially I made this tart to Holl's original specifications, but found I liked it better the second time around after tweaking. Things I changed: used a different tart dough that I love, added bittersweet chocolate to the ganache instead of using all dark, added salt to the ganache, removed salt from the meringue, and increased meringue by two eggs and a half-up sugar. Plus I broiled instead of torched since I don't have a kitchen torch. Click above for Holl's original, but if you love meringue as much as I do and want some more depth to your ganache, consider my tweaks below.

For Tart Dough

9 tablespoons very cold unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 large egg

For Chocolate Ganache

12 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

2 1/3 cups heavy cream

1/4 cup (four tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into one-inch pieces, room temperature

1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, to taste

For Meringue

5 large egg whites

1 1/4 cup white sugar, pref. very fine*

1.  Make tart dough:  cube butter into one-inch pieces and chill in freezer while you ready everything else. In the bowl of a food processor, mix flour, sugar, and salt. Sprinkle butter over top, and pulse about 10 to 15 times until butter is between the size of peas and oatmeal. Use a fork to break up egg in a small bowl, and pour a bit at a time through the feed tube, pulsing once after each addition. When the egg is all in, pulse the dough for ten seconds at a time until it comes together. Right before you get to this point, the mixer will change sounds and essentially start grumbling at you. Dump dough onto sheet of plastic wrap, gently knead together, and chill for at least one hour.

2.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to an13-inch circle and fit it into a 11-inch tart pan, folding extra back in for double-thick sides. Prick all over bottom with the tines of a fork and firm up in freezer for 30 minutes. Butter the shiny side of aluminum foil, press into bottom and up sides of tart dough, then bake tart for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake until golden, about ten minutes more. Set aside to cool while you make ganache.

3.  Make ganache:  place chocolate in a large heatproof bowl and set aside. In a medium saucepan, heat heavy cream over medium until small bubbles just begin to form around the edges. Pour heated cream over chocolate and let stand five minutes; add butter and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Using an immersion blender or whisk, blend until smooth. Taste, and add remaining salt if desired. Pour ganache into cooled tart shell and transfer to refrigerator until set, at least two hours. If cooling longer than two hours, cover with plastic wrap once chocolate has set.

4.  Make meringue:  if you don’t have a kitchen torch, preheat oven to broil and place rack in upper third of oven. Place egg whites and sugar in the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer set over, but not touching, simmering water. Cook, whisking, until mixture is warm to the touch, about three to five minutes (will depend on how cold your egg whites were to begin). Transfer mixture to an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and mix on high until stiff peaks form. 

5.  Place tart on baking sheet. Spoon meringue over top, anchoring to crust where possible, and embellishing peaks with a knife or rubber spatula. Broil until meringue is golden brown, about two to five minutes, depending on your oven (mine was done at three). Keep your eye on the tart though as you don’t want the meringue to burn! Remove from oven, allow to cool to room temperature, and serve. Tart will keep covered in the fridge for up to three days.

*Ever want to go bigger or smaller with the meringue? The ratio is one-quarter cup sugar to one large egg white. Now go forth and meringue to your heart's desire!