Our mint has gone a bit crazy, so I'm always happy for recipes that promise to use a bit up. I also had a carton of whipping cream in the fridge that expired a few days ago and some leftover Bahamanian sweet pastry. Now, of course, technically this tart is meant to be made with what I think of as "regular" sweet shortcrust. But I wasn't about to go making yet another batch of pastry dough when I still had a buch of other dough in the fridge. So I figured I'd just give it a try with the extra sweet pastry.

I think the sugar cookie-like crust works quite well with the minty ganache filling! I mean, I'm sure the recommended crust would also be good. (And I think some sort of chocolate crust might also be quite nice.) But I'm certainly not complaining about how this version turned out!

The original recipe calls for using 1 1/2 c. of cream, 340g of chocolate, 10 sprigs of mint, and 2 Tbsp. of corn syrup in the filling. It also calls for making it in either a 35x11.5cm (13.75x4.5") rectangular or 24cm (9.5") round loose-bottomed tart tin. I didn't want to mess around with the super-hard-to-handle Bahamanian pastry in a loose-bottomed tin, so I decided to use my 9" deep dish pie plate instead. Then, in order to both accommodate the deep dish and to use up more cream and mint, I bumped up all the quantities in the filling except for the corn syrup. I reasoned that since the Bahamanian pastry was so much sweeter than a "regular" sweet shortcrust, it made sense to dail back the sweetness of the filling a bit. If I'd been making this with a less sweet pastry, I might've considered adding another 2-3 tsp. of corn syrup along with the chocolate.

Photo goes here.

Fresh Mint and Chocolate Tart

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 1/4 batch Bahamanian sweet pastry or 1 crust worth of another pastry of your choice
• 2 c. of heavy (35%) cream
• 12 sprigs fresh mint
• 450g dark chocolate
• 2-3 Tbsp. corn syrup
• extra mint leaves, for garnish

Directions

1. Roll out the pastry and use it to line a 23cm (9") deep dish pie plate (or equivalent volume tart tin).
2. Chill for 20-30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, scald the cream. Get it very hot, but stop just shy of boiling.
4. Add the mint to the cream and set aside to steep for 20-30 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F), line pie shell with baking paper, and fill with pie weights.
6. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 15-20 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, strain the mint from the cream and discard.
8. Add the chocolate and corn syrup to the infused cream.
9. Gently heat the cream mixture, stirring, until chocolate is melted and fully combined.
10. Remove from heat and set aside to cool for 20-30 minutes.
11. Remove baking paper and pie weights and continue baking for 5 minutes longer.
12. Remove from oven and set on wire rack to cool.
13. Once crust has cooled, pour in the ganache.
14. Transfer to fridge and chill until set (~1 hour).
15. Garnish with extra mint leaves, cut into wedges, and serve.