chocolate + sea salt tart

 

taking photographs of chocolate is possibly one of my favourite things to do (is that sad? lol), so i was quite excited to shoot this chocolate + sea salt tart. i may or may not have gotten a little carried away with the process shots, but what are you gonna do. a chocolate tart is a perfect year round dessert to make for any gathering because chocolate is ALWAYS in season. this smooth & silky tart is slightly on the richer side of things, but the hint of sea salt helps offset the rich & creamy dark chocolate flavour. if you wanted to whip this up within minutes, you could use store bought tart crust & just add the filling. however, this gorgeous matte grey porcelain tart pan from REVOL makes for such a gorgeous presentation.

REVOL is a french made porcelain company who makes everything handmade (literally everything.. the clay, the molds, the designs + the colours) & produces the highest quality bakeware, cookware & dinnerware. they want to make cooking easier & presentation beautiful. i love all the grey & white pieces they create because i can't turn away anything in those two tones. it is such a soft & pretty neutral colour. i hope you enjoy this sea salt chocolate tart as much as i did! for best results, serve it cold because the chocolate filling gets a bit soft at room temperature & makes slicing/serving a little more messy.

p.s. how cute is that cow creamer?! perfect for a country kitchen with open shelving.

ingredients

for the tart dough

  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold & cubed
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 tablespoons ice cold water
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

for the salted chocolate filling

  • 1 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon + 1/4 teaspoon for sprinkles flaked sea salt
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold & cubed
  • 200 grams high quality dark chocolate, roughly chopped

directions

for the tart dough

  • preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • in a large mixing bowl add the flour, sugar & salt. stir.
  • cut in the butter until a crumb like mixture is formed.
  • in a separate bowl whisk together the egg yolk, water & vanilla. add to the dough & shape into a disk. if dough seems dry, add more water a tablespoon at a time.
  • let dough chill for 30 minutes. roll out to desired thickness or press gently into the tart pan.
  • bake for 15-20 minutes, using pie beads to stop crust from rising. if you do not have pie beads, use foil wrapped rice or dried beans. anything to help create weight in the center.
  • remove from oven & let cool before you make the filling.

for the salted chocolate filling

  • in a saucepan over medium heat add the heavy cream, sugar, vanilla & salt. stir occasionally & bring to a boil.
  • immediately remove pan from heat & add the butter cubes + chopped chocolate. stir vigorously until the mixture is silky & smooth.
  • pour into the pre-baked crust & place in fridge.
  • chill tart for two hours to set. sprinkle with remaining sea salt & serve.

this post was created in partnership with REVOL USA. they create the most gorgeous porcelain bakeware in all my favouite matte white + grey tones. featured in this post are the tart pan | espresso mugs | cow creamer & salad/dessert plate. you can find REVOL on facebook, instagram & youtube. thank you for supporting the brands that allow me to do what i love most. 

spiced sweet potato cake

 

happy labour day! i hope everyone enjoyed the last long weekend of summer 2016. i spent it back in the city, roaming around all my old stompin grounds. window shopping, ice coffees, burritos.. all the good stuff! i think we walked a total of 25 miles in the past two days, so i am POOCHED. i treated myself to the perfect coat for fall that i cannot wait to wear! it is soft & grey & just so beautiful.

now let's get to the reason we are all here..cake!!! i know our love of pumpkin spice everything is now labeled as being a "basic bitch" so i did something a little different. i used sweet potatoes! hah! take that pumpkin. of course i didn't get too crazy.. i used this amazing pumpkin spice emulsion by lorann oils (similar to an extract). it smells & taste like everything fall. the flavour comes through even stronger in the pumpkin spice glaze. so give pumpkin a little break this fall & bust out a sweet potato!

xo

ingredients

for the sweet potato pound cake

for the spiced glaze

directions

  • preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • in a large mixing bowl add the vegetable oil, raw sugar, mashed sweet potatoes, vanilla extract & pumpkin pie spice emulsion & stir.
  • add the eggs one at a time followed by the heavy cream. mix until well blended.
  • sift in the flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt.
  • fill greased bundt pan with batter & bake for 35-40 minutes.
  • let cool while you prepare the glaze.
  • for the glaze, add ingredients into a bowl & stir until smooth. if glaze is too thick, add more cream. if glaze is too runny, add more powdered sugar.
  • pour over cake & serve.

this post was created in partnership with LorAnn Oils. they make the best extracts & emulsions available like pumpkin spice!!!!! find the featured two-fold madagascar vanilla extract here & the pumpkin spice emulsion here. thank you for supporting the brands that keep hey modest marce up & running! xo

spiced apple pie cake

 

happy september!!!! back to work, back to school (so glad i am no longer part of the latter category) calls for a cake. not just any old cake, but an APPLE PIE cake. actually though, it is filled with fresh apple pie filling, sandwiched between three layers of apple spice cake & finished off with cream cheese frosting. as if that wasn't enough, i decided to give it a drizzle in salted caramel because YOLO.

this special cake is not just to celebrate the beginning of a new month (the month that kicks off my FAVOURITE months.. hurry up october), but was also for my older sister's 30th birthday.. i mean 29th birthday! while her favourite cake is chocolate cake, her favourite dessert is apple pie. i figured in her thiry years she has had her share of chocolate cake, so it was time to create something a little more special. when she went away to university, i would send apple pies up with my parents any time they went to visit her. it seemed like the perfect opportunity to try & make a cake that taste just like those old memories. she absolutely loved it & said "this actually taste like pie" so that means it was a huge success! now i need to see what else i can whip up with apples because the apple orchards are starting to open here & i want to go apple picking so badly! what are you most looking forward to this month?! i don't know if it is sweater weather quite yet;)

ingredients

for the apple spice cake

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup grated apples, packed
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

for the apple pie filling

  • 3-4 medium apples, peeled & thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

for the cinnamon cream cheese frosting

  • 1 pound unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 4 cups icing sugar, or to taste
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 8 ounces full fat cream cheese
  • salted caramel, optional

directions

for the apple spice cake

  • preheat oven to 325 degrees.
  • in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream butter and brown sugar.
  • add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract. mix until mixture is pale & fluffy.
  • beat in the grated apples & whole milk.
  • in a separate bowl sift the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon & nutmeg. gradually add to stand mixer at low speed.
  • evenly distribute batter amongst two greased 8-inch round cake pans or three greased 6-inch round cake pans.
  • bake each layer for about 15-20 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
  • let cakes cool completely before flipping & frosting.

for the apple pie filling

  • in a skillet over medium heat add the apples, brown sugar, butter, vanilla, cornstarch, cinnamon & nutmeg. toss to coat.
  • cook until the apples are tender & gooey just like apple pie.
  • set aside & let cool before using.

for the frosting

  • add butter, icing sugar, vanilla & cinnamon in the bowl of a stand mixer and whip until light and fluffy, about 8-10 minutes.
  • turn mixture to medium speed & add the cream cheese one chunk at a time. beat for 30 seconds.
  • when you are ready to frost the cake start with a layer of cake, frosting then filling until you reach the last layer of cake. to ensure the filling stays inside the cake, create a thick border along the edges with the frosting.
  • frost the outside as desired & drizzle with salted caramel!

like what you see? get it here. table runner | cake stand | plate | mug | flatware | chemex