Reviews for Milk-Chocolate Tart with Pretzel Crust

I had no problem with the filling setting. It was rock hard. I had to take it out of the fridge an hour before serving. I used half milk and half dark chocolate for the filling. It was quite tasty but way too rich. It tasted like chocolate fudge. If I were to make this again, I think I would make more of a mousse type filling with the pretzel crust.

March 29, 2009

Awesome! Rich...Great contrast of flavors. The pretzels made it "fun". Made this for Valentine's day. Only modification was using dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate. (I used the pan size specified, but might use a smaller pan next time.)

March 26, 2009

The tart was really good. I had no problem with the filling setting. The one problem was that I had too much filling for the crust (the filling was spilling over the side. Perhaps that's the difficulty that others had? All in all, we really enjoyed this.

March 14, 2009

My guests enjoyed the tart with not a crumb leftover. A friend asked for the recipe and that is always a good recommendation.

March 13, 2009

Made this this weekend for the first time for a dinner party and it came out great. I do bake a lot, and followed the directions and ingredients precisely, using callebaut milk chocolate in the filling. I did use a larger tart pan (11 1/2 inch) because that's what I had. It set up just fine (maybe because it spreads more in the larger pan), the day of the dinner (I didn't even check it after 4 hours to see if it set ). It looked just like the picture. So I think it's worth trying even if you're hesitant!

March 3, 2009

I am so very thankful to the suggestions of others on this! I made the tart per the recipe with the following changes: Added 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate to the milk chocolate ganache (for a total of 16 oz chocolate). (My tart looks just like the picture.) Reduced the cream to 1 cup. It set up perfectly and I had exactly the right amount of filling. Thank you, everyone who advised the 2:1 ratio!

I have to say, I'm kind of annoyed by the crust - I think the egg makes it a little weird. Next time I might play around with the crust recipe a bit to see if I can't come up with something a little better. I just envision something more like a graham cracker-like crust that you would use for cheesecake - easy with no rolling or chilling nonsense...

Despite my personal crust pickiness, my dinner guests loved this.  :)

February 22, 2009

I was suprised to read all the reviews of people who had difficulty with this recipe.  I found the crust easy to work with after chilling about 75-90 minutes, and the ganache set with no trouble in the 4 hours or so it chilled.  I would be sure to use a good quality heavy cream - don't substitute half and half or anything else.Next time I may use a blend of milk and dark chocolate, as I simply prefer the taste of dark, but overall I thought it was lovely and my husband has declared it a new favorite.  I don't have any particularly extensive pastry experience - I just followed the recipe. 

February 12, 2009

Delicious keeper of a recipe, don't leave out the sprinkle of sea salt. The ganache is a bit thin (but it was close to set after chilling overnight -- 4 hours is not nearly long enough), so it will require a bit of tweaking as other reviewers suggest. The crust is difficult to work with, but worth it. I found it too soft after rolling out, so I chilled the rolled dough again for a while before putting it in the tart pan. I'm not good at pastry, but this minor modification made for a relatively easy crust IMO.

February 9, 2009

Tried this recipe and made some modifications. For the filling I used a ratio of 2:1 (chocolate to cream) and used 14 oz Milk Chocolate and 2 oz Bittersweet, for both taste and color.

Also I thought the dough was a nightmare and had to make it twice. The second attempt I let it chill longer and just "patched" the dough into my tart pan-this worked much better.

I have extensive baking experience (I worked as a pastry chef) and I would never make this again. It took way too long and there were too many pitfalls in the recipe.

February 8, 2009

Although not a pro...I've had many years of baking and thought this recipe sounded wonderful.  I too had the same results.....the filling not setting up.  The ratio of cream to chocolate must be off.  We had a great tasting crunchy pudding instead of a tart.   Wishing I had read these reviews before attempting the recipe.

February 7, 2009

Used Callebaut milk chocolate and followed the rest of the directions as written.  Filling didn't firm up fully even after the second day in the frig.  Also, colors can be deceiving online but the milk chocolate does not give the bold brown color that the picture shows.  Great idea though if someone could figure out how to make it work.

February 5, 2009

Same problem others have mentioned above: I couldn't get the filling to firm up.  Is the cream to chocolate ratio correct?  Thanks to all.

January 26, 2009

Wow!! Sorry and surprised to hear about all the troubles!  I made this tart over the weekend, following the recipe precisely (with my 12 year old daughter).  Ours turned out AWESOME.  Made the filling with the 12 oz. of milk chocolate and 1.5 c of heavy cream.  Cooled, poured and refrigerated a few hours.  Nicely set up and firmed.  So proud of it I brought the rest into work today to share.  Even with a quarter of it missing, and back to room temperature, the filling is still firm.  Maybe has something to do with the quality of the milk chocolate?  I used Lindt milk chocolate from two hollow Santas I broke up (on clearance at the Lindt shop).  I should also mention I am an amatuer "gourmet" cook, but a baking novice... this is the first tart I ever made.

January 26, 2009

not great --crust ok and filling a big dissapointment--

January 22, 2009

Im a pastry chef.  After reading the reviews it seems the ganache ratio is off. I too reduced the amount of cream by half and used a pound of chocolate. A Dark chocolate ganache ratio is typically 1:1. When using milk or white chocolate the ration is 2:1. Milk and white chocolate have milk and sugar added, so less cream is needed. I refrigerated mine overnight.  It came out great!

January 21, 2009

Recipe is delicious.  After reading the reviews below, I reduced the amount of cream by half.  The filling turned out very well.  However, there is just enough to fill the shell.  Folks might be better suited to using a bit more cream and adding additional chocolate -- 1 C to 1 lb of chocolate.

January 20, 2009

I made this and the filling was a mess! it never set. crust was yummy! what do we need to do to make it set? some step must have been left out. help it tastes great but looks a mess need advice from colleen

January 19, 2009

I also liked the taste but had trouble with the filling not setting up properly.  Also had problems with the dough firming up as well.  I'm not a tart novice, but looking at my tart, you'd think it was the first I'd ever made.  This recipe needs work.

January 13, 2009

Tasted great but after following the recipe to the letter, we couldn't get the filling to firm up. Suggestions?

January 11, 2009