When I was growing up, I couldn’t understand why people would go nuts for dark chocolate -in fact, I was still saying that way into my 30s. Milk chocolate was my chocolate of choice, or no chocolate at all. When I was in college studying in France, we went to Belgium for the weekend. Of course we were looking forward to indulging in the Belgium Waffles, but when we were in Brussels walking around, all of a sudden we started smelling chocolate. We basically followed our noses and ended up at the Cote D’Or chocolate factory. It was amazing, even for someone who was not crazy about chocolate. That day turned me into a chocolate lover. European chocolate is just so much better than what we get in the states, there is just no comparison. I even loved the dark chocolate – because yes, we sampled more chocolate than you can imagine that day. Anything I put into my mouth was exquisite – it was so creamy and smooth, it was unlike anything I had eatenbefore. After that trip I kept good chocolate in my room, just to have a little nibble after dinner – that chocolate changed me.

When I saw this recipe in Bon Appetit, my mind instantly went to Belgium. As I read through the recipe though, I noticed it called for milk chocolate – and I just couldn’t do it. A rich chocolate tart deserves dark chocolate, and high quality dark chocolate. Basically you should never skimp on chocolate, the better quality your chocolate, the better quality your finished product will taste. There are no shortcuts. I adapted the recipe, and it was amazing. I could only eat a small sliver it was so rich – but fortunately that made the tart last longer. We had some friends over and they agreed this was atart worth splurging for. So as the country is focused on candy right now for Halloween, I am focused on really good chocolate, because really there is nothing better…

Ingredients

• Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• 6 1/2 ounces chocolate wafer cookies (such as Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers; about 28 cookies), coarsely broken
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 15 ounces high-quality dark chocolate (such as Valrhona, Scharffen Berger, or Lindt), chopped
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream

Special equipment: A 9″-diameter tart pan with a removable bottom

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325°F. Coat tart pan with nonstick spray. Finely grind cookies in a food processor. Drizzle butter over; pulse until blended. Press evenly onto bottom and up sides of pan. Bake until firm, about 15
minutes. Let cool completely.

Place chocolate in a medium bowl. Bring cream to a boil in a small saucepan. Pour over chocolate; stir until melted. Pour filling over cooled crust. Freeze until firm, at least 2 hours and up to 2 days.

Remove the tart pan side. Cut tart into wedges, working quickly as tart will become gooey as it sits; place 1 piece on each plate.

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here: Double Chocolate Tart