Almond joy tartlets

A couple of months ago my friend Ana Elisa and I were talking about the new Baked cookbook that was about to be released (it’s out now). We were talking about purchasing the book or not, since both of us have the other two Baked cookbooks but neither of us have baked much from them. Culinary coincidences, I guess. Then Ana decided to put those cookbooks into some good use and kept telling me how pleased she was with the results, that was when I thought I should do the same – that is why I baked these tartlets (that and the fact that I needed to use up some cream I had in the fridge).

I have never had an Almond Joy candy bar but thought that the combination of chocolate, almonds and coconut would certainly turn out delicious; the tartlets are a bit time consuming because of the three components that have to be made, but you can break the recipe down into little projects and divide the whole thing in two days – that is what I did.

Almond joy tartlets
from a cookbook I’m determined to use more often

Dough:
1/3 cup (33g) almond meal
¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
1 1/3 cups + 1 tablespoon (195g) all purpose flour
pinch of salt
1 large egg
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and chopped

Filling:
225g (8oz) white chocolate, chopped
1 cup (240ml) heavy cream
2 cups (200g) sweetened flaked coconut
1 tablespoon Amaretto or rum

Glaze:
55g (2oz) semisweet chocolate, chopped
55g (2oz) milk chocolate, chopped
½ cup (120ml) heavy cream
6 whole toasted almonds

Dough: place the almond meal, sugar, flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor and process to combine. Add the butter and pulse until sandy. In a small bowl, lightly whisk the egg and vanilla together with a fork. With the machine running, pour in the egg mixture, a little at a time, just until the dough comes together – you might not need all the mixture. Form the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.
Filling: place the white chocolate and the cream in a small heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir until melted and smooth. Remove from heat, cool to room temperature then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
Lightly butter six 10cm (4in) tartlet pans with removable bottoms. Divide the dough into 6 equal parts and place each part between two pieces of lightly floured baking paper – dough is sticky, so make sure it’s cold when you roll it. Roll into a rough circle, then carefully transfer to the tartlet pan and gently press it to the bottom and sides of the pan. Remove any dough scraps. Repeat the process with the remaining dough. Prick the base of the dough with a fork and freeze for 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F. Line crusts with a piece of foil or baking paper and fill it with dried beans/baking weights. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the beans/weights and the paper and bake for 10 minutes longer or until golden. Remove from the oven and cool completely over a wire rack.
Place the chilled white chocolate ganache in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until soft peaks form. Do not overwhip. Gently fold in the coconut and the Amaretto. Spread the filling over the crusts and place one almond in the center of each tartlet. Refrigerate while you make the glaze.
For the glaze, place the chocolates in a small heatproof bowl. Heat the heavy cream until it just comes to a boil, then pour it over the chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Let cool for 10 minutes, then spoon the glaze evenly over the tarts. Refrigerate again until glaze is set, about 10 minutes.
Tarts can be stored in the refrigerator, tightly covered, for 2 days.

Makes 6 – I halved the recipe above, used tartlet pans the same size called for and got 4 tartlets