Turtle Tart recipe from Art & Soul, plus March of Dimes

A while back, Lisa, aka Event Junkie, asked if I'd be willing to spread the word about The March of Dimes Signature Chefs Auction happening in DC.
Since I don't do event promotion on this blog, I thought of a compromise: I will feature a recipe by one of the chefs participating in The March of Dimes event and tell you all a bit about the event.

As it happened, a few weeks ago I had lunch at Art & Soul restaurant with Brona. At the end of the meal, Chef Wes Morton came over to our table with a sample of three desserts (I'm guessing Tricia who does PR for Art & Soul graciously requested this!). I was blown away: my favorite by far was the turtle tart: Oreo cookie crust, chocolate, caramel, pecans and more chocolate! The combination of textures and flavors was beyond delicious. I would have happily skipped most of my lunch in order to be able to eat an entire slice of this tart.

When it came time to choose a chef/restaurant/recipe to feature, I contacted Tricia and asked for the Turtle Tart recipe: SUCCESS: she emailed it to me the next day. And now I can share it with you!



Before the recipe, however, let me share a few facts about The March of Dimes:

"In local communities across the country, we're helping moms take charge of their health, and supporting families when something goes wrong. The March of Dimes also acts globally: sharing best practices in perinatal health and helping improve birth outcomes where the needs are the most urgent."

"We're reaching moms with information on having full-term and healthy pregnancies. Professional education and medical resources on topics like premature birth and birth defects, are helping health care providers better support their patients."  

If you live in DC and want to support The March of Dimes, don't miss November 16th event:

Signature Chefs Auction of D.C. features 25 of Washington, D.C.'s top chefs, wineries and bartenders for an evening of culinary tastings, fine wine and entertainment.  The evening will include silent and live auctions of unique dining packages, hotel stays and weekend getaways. Purchase your tickets here.

And now the recipe! {Note: For the most part I followed the recipe exactly. I used a scale, but if you don't have one, feel free to convert grams into ounces or cup measurements. Also, I rewrote directions to better suite my style.}

Ingredients & Directions

For the Oreo crust
210 grams Oreo crumbs
5 grams salt
35 grams sugar
75 grams butter, melted

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine all the crust ingredients in a bowl and press into a 10 inch tart shell with removable bottom. If you don't have one, use a springform pan (that's what I did).
2. Make sure the Oreo mixture evenly covers the bottom of the pan and forms a rim around the edge.
3. Bake the crust for 10 minutes and let it cool while you work on the other components of this dessert.

For the tart filling
76 grams 66% chocolate {I could only find 60% chocolate. I also doubled this amount and used 150 grams}
276 grams pecans, chopped & toasted
72 grams water
280 grams brown sugar
217 grams heavy cream
35 grams butter, cubed
215 grams 44% chocolate {I could not find 44% chocolate, so used semi-sweet chocolate}
100 grams cream

1. Over a double boiler, melt the 66% chocolate and evenly spread it into a cooled baked oreo crust.
2. Top the layer of chocolate with most of the pecans {you will use the rest for decoration}
3. In a pot, combine water and brown sugar and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and add 217 grams of heavy cream. Over medium heat, cook the mixture for 5 minutes till it's thick. Be sure that the mixture doesn't boil over.
4. Remove the pot from the heat, add butter and mix to incorporate. Pour this caramel mixture over the nuts. Refrigerate the tart for 45 minutes.

5. To make a ganache, heat 100 grams of cream in a small pot. Do not boil. Pour the heated cream over 215 grams of semi-sweet chocolate and let it stand for a few minutes. Using a spatula, mix the two ingredients and pour over the tart. Sprinkle the remaining pecans on top.
6. Refrigerate the tart for at least 8 hours. {Of course I did not do that: I let mine sit in the fridge for 3 hours before my friend Jenn and I had to try it!}

This was amazing!  I think Chefs Morton and Smith would be quite proud of me too ;) Everyone I've shared this tart with absolutely loved it, and I have managed to save a piece of the tart in my freezer for when my brother comes to visit. This would be a great alternative dessert for your holiday table or for any special celebration.

Thanks again to Art & Soul for sharing this recipe!

P.S. If you want the recipe, the easiest thing to do would be to copy the post into a word document and then to delete all the photos.