Do you believe in recipe fate?

January 28, 2009*: on browsing my favorite food porn site, I saw entry 32064, a milk chocolate tart with a pretzel crust. I would be lying if I didn't say that it called to me. I immediately tagged the recipe for future use.

February 1, 2009: After a lovely trip to St. Louis to see the cutest babies and baby-mama in the world, I picked up a copy of Food & Wine magazine at the airport, not realizing that due to the time difference the Super Bowl had actually begun an hour earlier. Upon arriving at the gate, I was greeted with Bruce Springsteen's 59-Year-Old Crotch, or what passes for a Super Bowl half-time show these days. Then I got on the plane, leafed through my magazine, and lo and behold, there was the very same milk chocolate tart with a pretzel crust. ** If that is not a sign, I don't know what is.

Because for all my blustering lately about squash and apples, there is only one flavor combination that is truly perfection in my mind, and that ideal combination is none other than Salt and Chocolate. Capitalization is required. Women, I think, will understand this: Scheidt said the tart was "really good," while Apryl said nothing. Her eyes got wide, she nodded, and maybe she made a little moan. That's how I felt, too.

This tart is Salt and Chocolate nirvana. The salt is all the way through the crust, so you get a good smack of it in every bite. And it's no dinky chocolate-covered pretzel either; this is big, thick chocolate, not a thin waxy coating. Get the best milk chocolate you can afford, as you're going to be tasting it.

One cautionary note: since the crust is made of shards of crushed pretzel held together by a lusciously sweet dough, it may become a bit porous during baking. It's vital that you fortify the corners of the crust (where the bottom meets the sides) with a good deal of dough. Otherwise, your crust risks developing holes while it bakes, and then it will hemorrhage ganache*** when you fill it. And do plan for this one the night before, as there are several waiting periods involved, noted below.


Milk Chocolate Pretzel Tart
From Food & Wine

1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups coarsely crushed thin pretzels (from 3 1/2 ounces whole), divided
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 large egg
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
3/4 pound milk chocolate, chopped
Maldon sea salt and crushed pretzels, for serving

Cream together butter, 3/4 cup pretzels and sugar at low spead until creamy. Beat in the flour and egg, mixing just until combined. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of pretzels, being sure to leave some pretzel pieces intact. Flatten the dough between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, at least 30 minutes. (Waiting period 1.)

Roll out the dough between the sheets of plastic wrap to a 12-inch round. Peel off the top sheet and invert the dough over a 10-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough into the corners and patch any tears. Trim the overhanging dough and refrigerate the shell for 30 minutes or until firm. (Waiting period 2.)

Preheat the oven to 350°. Line the shell with parchment paper and fill with pie weights (I use some black beans that I have reserved for this purpose). Bake for about 30 minutes, until nearly set. Remove the weights and parchment and bake for 10 to 15 minutes longer, until the tart shell is firm; cover the edge with foil if it darkens too much. Let the shell cool completely. (Waiting period 3.)

While the shell is in the oven, make the filling: In a medium saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer. Off the heat, add the milk chocolate and let stand for 5 minutes. Whisk until smooth. Transfer the filling to a bowl and let cool to room temperature, about 1 hour. (Waiting period 4.)

Melt the bittersweet chocolate in the microwave by heating for 30 seconds, then stirring. Repeat until chocolate is smooth and uniform, and not a second longer. Brush the melted chocolate over the bottom and up the sides of the tart shell, trying in particular to fill any holes that may have developed during baking. Refrigerate for 10 minutes or until set. (Waiting period 4.5 - because it's little.)

Place the tart shell on a completely flat plate (I used a sheet pan). Pour the filling into the shell and refrigerate until set, at least 4 hours. (Waiting period 5.)

To serve, cut into pieces. Garnish with Maldon sea salt and bits of crushed pretzel.**** At this point, men may want to leave the room.

*I have a backlog, ok?
**After this leg of the trip, I disembarked in Chicago Midway Airport to watch the last 5 minutes of the Super Bowl with a bunch of screaming Stillers fans. The lovely people at Southwest, realizing that a Chicago-to-Pittsburgh flight was bound to have a few football fans on it, did not make us board until the last possible moment. That last moment happened to be immediately following Santonio Holmes' final touchdown reception, when they shooed us all on the plane willy-nilly. We didn't know if the play had stood when we got on the plane, prompting a rash of FAA violations due to copious cell phone and blackberry use.
***Note that you do get to eat any ganache that oozes out.
****Don't sprinkle the sea salt on any parts of the tart that you don't wish to serve immediately. It will dissolve and leave a little pock-mark.