ADVENTURES IN DOMESTICITY: Charity Chocolate Tartlets Edition

Back in December, my friends Cathy from the site gas•tron•o•my and Diana from Diana Takes A Bite organized a charity bake sale called “Eat My Blog,” in which local Los Angeles bloggers and businesses offered up tasty morsels to support the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank. The event raised several thousand dollars and was such a success that Cathy and Diana decided to do it again. The only question remaining for me was what to make. Last time, I made an inordinate amount of blondies, which was fun, but I wanted to switch it up. And then I realized what I’d do: I’d revisit the original Adventure In Domesticity. I would make chocolate tartlets! Not only would they be tasty, but it would be a perfect opportunity to review my new muffin tin from CSN Stores.

Information about the bake sale and pics of the tartlets after the jump…

As is often the case, this tasty dessert starts with butter. Two sticks, specifically. But to be fair, I’m making a double portion.

My snazzy new Farberware muffin tin. I’m very excited to use it.

I melt the butter and throw in some flour, sugar, salt, and vanilla extract. This is one of the simplest doughs ever.

Truth be told, the entire recipe is remarkably simply.

A new set of liners make their glorious debut. Note the presence of my original muffin tin, provided courtesy of reader SpecialK.

Twenty-five minutes later, I’ve pressed dough into all the liners. This is the hardest part of the process. It’s actually not hard at all, just time consuming.

While the shells bake in the oven (at 350 degrees), I start the chocolate melting process. I have the brilliant idea to chop up my semi-sweet chocolate in the Magic Bullet. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t really work.

I mix the chocolate (as well as some chocolate dust I created) in with cream and sugar. Let the melting begin!

Still waiting…

Soon the shells are done, but the chocolate is far from melting. Clearly I mistimed this.

The mixture slowly darkens.

Getting there…

FINALLY.

I pour the filling into the shells. We’re ready to roll.

I cook the tartlets for about thirteen minutes. It usually doesn’t take so long for them to set up, but perhaps cooking a larger batch like this affected the situation. Nevertheless, I let these bad boys cool down on a rack before shuttling them off into the fridge.

The verdict? Well, I don’t know. I haven’t had one. They’re all for the bake sale! If you want one, you’ll have to come on by. Here’s the information:

Eat My Blog will be setting up in front of Tender Greens in Hollywood on June 19th, 2010 from 10 AM to 4 PM. Here’s the address:

8759 Santa Monica Boulevard
West Hollywood, California 90069

I’ll be there probably until noon or so. Sorry for the late notice. I was gonna post about this Thursday night, but I simply ran out of time (I also didn’t get to make the second batch of tartlets that I had planned. ARGH), and Friday I was off the grid on a secret mission. So if you see this in time and live in Los Angeles, come on out to Weho for some baked goods!

And as for the muffin tin? It worked like a charm. Plus, I loved its shiny finish. Definitely a worthwhile purchase for me. I wouldn’t have been able to make these tartlets without it!