-
1
To Make the Cacao Nib Pastry Dough:
-
2
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F.
-
3
Spray the inside of each tartlet pan with nonstick baking spray and place the pans on a baking sheet.
-
4
Place the walnuts in a cake or pie pan and toast in the oven for 7 to 8 minutes, until light golden.
-
5
Remove the pan from the oven and cool on a rack.
-
6
Chop the walnuts finely.
-
7
Pulse together the flour, brown sugar, and salt in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade.
-
8
Cut the butter into small pieces and add it to the flour mixture.
-
9
Pulse until the butter is cut into very tiny pieces, about 30 seconds.
-
10
The texture will be sandy with very tiny lumps throughout.
-
11
Add the cacao nibs and chopped walnuts and pulse briefly to blend.
-
12
In a small bowl, use a fork to beat the egg yolk and vanilla together.
-
13
With the food processor running, pour this mixture through the feed tube.
-
14
Process the dough until the mixture wraps itself around the blade, about 1 minute.
-
15
Break off walnut-size pieces of the dough and press them into the tartlet pans.
-
16
Pinch off any excess dough at the top edge of the pans.
-
17
Place another tartlet pan on top of each tartlet to act as a weight while it bakes.
-
18
Bake the tartlet shells for 7 minutes.
-
19
Remove the top tartlet pans.
-
20
If the bottoms of the pastry shells puff up, gently pierce them with a fork or the point of a knife to release the air.
-
21
Bake another 7 to 8 minutes, until light golden and set.
-
22
Remove the baking sheet from the oven and transfer it to a rack to cool completely.
-
23
To remove the tartlet shells from their pans, gently tap each pan on the countertop.
-
24
To Make the Ganache Filling:
-
25
Place the chopped chocolate in a 2-quart bowl.
-
26
Place the cream in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.
-
27
Pour the cream over the chocolate.
-
28
Let it stand for 15 seconds, then stir together with a rubber spatula, whisk, or immersion blender until very smooth.
-
29
To Assemble:
-
30
Use a 1-inch round ice cream scoop to fill each tartlet shell to the top with ganache.
-
31
Chill for 15 minutes to set the filling, or let it set at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
-
32
Serve at room temperature.
-
33
Keeping:
-
34
Store the tartlets in a single layer on a baking sheet.
-
35
Cover the tops of the tartlets with a large piece of waxed paper to keep the surface from becoming marred.
-
36
Tightly wrap the pan with aluminum foil and keep in the refrigerator up to 3 days.
-
37
Streamlining:
-
38
The pastry dough can be made in advance and kept in the refrigerator, tightly wrapped in a double layer of plastic wrap, up to 4 days before using.
-
39
To freeze up to 4 months, wrap it in a double layer of plastic wrap and enclose it in a freezer bag.
-
40
Use a large piece of masking tape and an indelible marker to label and date the contents.
-
41
If frozen, defrost the dough in the refrigerator overnight before using.
-
42
If it is too cold to roll out, let it stand at room temperature to become pliable.
-
43
The tartlet shells can be baked and held at room temperature up to 2 days before filling.
-
44
After they are completely cool, place them on a jelly-roll pan, cover with waxed paper, and tightly wrap the pan in aluminum foil.
