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One of my friends had a birthday last week and I wanted to make a special dinner to celebrate. When it came to the dessert, I wanted something that would sparkle and decided on an old, tried and true, never fail recipe that I've been making for many years; Peanut Butter-Ganache Tart with Shortbread Crust. I made it in small individual tart pans this time instead of a larger pan. It's always a big hit, and most everyone who tries it wants to lick the plate clean!
In fact, there's a sweet, funny story that always makes me smile when I pull out this recipe. Many years, ago I had a dear friend/neighbor named Janet whose husband, Ken, went crazy over this dessert. I started making it every year for his birthday. One year, I had the pie all set to go, but decided to play a little trick on the unsuspecting birthday boy. I took a small sherbet cup and plopped in a scoop of peanut butter. I tossed a few chocolate chips on the top and asked my son, Nick to take it over to Ken. My son was instructed to tell him that I didn't have the time to make a peanut butter pie, but that I hoped this would suffice. Nick completed his assignment and returned home with a "Thank you so much." message from this dear man. My friend, Janet was in on the joke and after Nick left their house, she said to Ken, "I can't believe what a cheapskate Chris is! This is disgusting!" She reported to me later that Ken just looked at her and said very calmly, "If this is all Chris had the time to make, it's just fine with me". Now that is a good, kind man! By the way, he did get his real pie that year and this story has given us many smiles and laughs over the years anytime I make this dessert.
Peanut Butter-Ganache Tart with Shortbread Crust
Most everyone who tries this wants to lick the plate clean. Some admit it, some don't.
Prep Time:
3 hrs 11 mins
Cook Time:
3 hrs 11 mins
Ingredients
- Ingredients for the crust:
- 10 ounces of shortbread cookies crushed, I used Nabisco Lorna Doones but any type of shortbread cookie will do, graham crackers or digestive biscuits also work well.
- 6 tablespoons melted butter
- Ingredients for the filling:
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter softened
- 1 cup chilled heavy cream whipped
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- ½ cup whipping cream
- 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
-
For the crust, spray a 9 inch tart pan with a removable bottom with cooking spray. Mix crushed cookies with butter and press mixture evenly into prepared pan. Bake at 350˚F for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely.
-
For the filling, using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and peanut butter until well blended. Add the 1 cup powdered sugar and butter and beat until fluffy. Fold in ½ of the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture to lighten. Gently fold in remaining cream. Add vanilla and stir till combined. Spoon into crust. Refrigerate until firm, about 3 hours.
-
Heat cream in microwave until very hot, about 1 ½ minutes. Add chocolate and stir until smooth. Cool to lukewarm. Spread topping over pie. Refrigerate until firm, about 3 hours. Cut into wedges and serve with lightly sweetened whipped cream.
Recipe Notes
To make small individual tarts, use 8 small tart pans with removable bottoms - mine are 4 inches in diameter. Proceed with the directions as above, dividing the ingredients between the 8 pans.
Karen says
Hi Chris, would you mind explaining how you did the swirly topping on these please?. Someone else asked as well but it looks like the link is gone, unless I'm missing something. Thanks!
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Karen, I tried to look for the video I had linked to but, you're right, it's not there. I filled a small bowl with ice water, melted chocolate chips and put the melted chocolate (not too hot) in a small ziplock bag. I snipped a tiny bit off one corner then piped a "flower" (very basic) in the water. The chocolate cools quickly and you can lift out the "flower" or swirls.
Tonna says
How did you do the chocolate decoration on top with the swirls? Thanks
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Tonna, I did something similar to this: But I used ice water.