The Baking Bible: Fudgy Pudgy Brownie Tart

This is a really rich and fudgy brownie encased in a chocolate cookie shell. The original brownie had nuts but we opted for bourbon soaked dried sour cherries. Boozy cherries are really yummy. I think nuts would have been a nice break in texture and done a bit to temper the richness of the chocolate, but this was Mark's birthday cake and he does not believe in brownies with nuts. Generally speaking I don't, either. We think that next time doing half boozy cherries and half toasted chopped walnuts might be good.

The unfortunately named fudgy pudgy brownie recipe was a sort of footnote in Rose's Heavenly Cakes, as it was a component of the groom's cake in the wedding cakes chapter. This brownie is a more classic brownie recipe than the Barcelona Brownie which served as the brownie base for the fancy pantsy three layer brownies we did previously. I think I may prefer this brownie as it is easier to make and a bit more sturdy. I don't know. I remember feeling like the Barcelona Brownie was the brownie of my dreams the first time I made that one, so who knows.

The brownie tart starts with making the tart crust, which is a super easy thing to do. I even attempted a little video of the child and I processing the dough. It features the learning tower that I just bought off Craigslist thanks to Vicki's suggestion. This thing is great!

EDITED TO ADD: the video upload won't work! So here's a still photo instead. Sorry.

Anyways the dough gets kneaded together and unlike regular pie dough this time all the butter needs to be incorporated or else it will melt and form holes in the crust during baking. I had to do a bit more kneading to get that to happen. Then it's off for a chill and rest, then a roll out, then a pan fitting, then another chill and rest. Then you can put your brownie batter in it.

Then the bake happens and the cool down happens and the chiling of the baked tart happens then finally there is the eating. Mark is really happy he got a rich and chocolaty birthday cake, and is happy it is a bit unusual. I love it, but it sure is rich, have I mentioned that yet?