Chocolate Covered Maple Brandy Jellies With Nuts Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray the tart shells with cooking spray and set aside.
• For the crust: Place the hazelnuts, granulated sugar and graham crackers in a food processor and pulse until it looks like cornmeal. Add the butter, a little at a time, pulsing until the mixture comes together. Divide among the tart shells and press up the sides, making sure the crust is tightly packed.
• For the filling: In a large bowl, mix together the brown sugar, vanilla bean paste, salt and eggs. Add the bacon grease and maple syrup; mix to combine. Stir in the hazelnuts and pecans.
• Sprinkle the hazelnuts and pecans onto the bottoms of the crusts. Pour the syrup mixture over the nuts. Sprinkle the tops with bacon. Bake until set, about 25 minutes. Let cool.
• For the mousse: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment, whip the cream cheese for 30 seconds to aerate it. Add the cream, confectioners' sugar, cocoa powder, bourbon, vanilla bean paste and salt and whip until light and fluffy. Taste and add more cocoa powder if desired.
• Pop the cooled tarts out of the pan and place on individual plates. Spoon the mousse into small dishes, garnish with chocolate curls and mint leaves, and serve on the side.

Steps:

• Make the crust: In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and heavy cream. In the bowl of a food processor with a blade attachment, pulse the flour, butter, sugar and salt until no big chunks of butter remain. Slowly add the yolk mixture to the flour mixture. Blend to combine but don't overwork the dough.
• Remove the dough and, turning it out onto a lightly floured surface, knead it 4 or 5 times to incorporate.
• Divide the dough in half if making one large tart. Divide the dough into four pieces if making mini tarts. Flatten the dough pieces into discs with your hands, wrap them in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 20 minutes and up to overnight. (Freeze any remaining pieces for another project for up to 3 months.)
• Make the pastry cream: Put a damp kitchen towel under a medium bowl and whisk together the egg yolks and 1/4 cup of the sugar until the yolks are lighter in color, about 2 minutes. (The towel will ensure the bowl doesn't slide around.) Add the cornstarch and salt, whisk again, and set the bowl aside.
• In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the milk and the remaining sugar 1/4 cup sugar and cook until the mixture almost boils, 4 to 5 minutes. With one hand, start whisking the egg yolk mixture; with the other hand, slowly drizzle the hot milk into the bowl, whisking until all the milk is incorporated.
• Pour the custard back into the saucepan and continue cooking, stirring constantly, on medium-high heat, until the mixture is thick and one bubble plops up on top, about 2 minutes.
• Remove the custard from the heat and pour into a clean medium bowl. Don't scrape the pot if the bottom looks burned or like scrambled eggs. Now, stir in the butter and vanilla. Keep stirring until the butter melts. Place a piece of plastic wrap over the bowl so it is touching the pastry cream, then refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Bake the tart shell or shells: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough on a floured surface until it is a circle (about 9 inches across and 1/2 inch thick for one large tart and about 6 inches across and 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick for four mini tarts.
• Lay the dough onto the tart pan, and then using your fingers, gently press it down. Try not to tear the dough or make it too thin. Ideally, it should be an even thickness all the way across.
• Using a sharp knife, carefully trim the edges so the dough is perfectly even with the top of the tart shell (see Cook's Note). Place the tart shell on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Using a fork, poke a bunch of holes in the bottom of the tart shell to keep bubbles from forming during baking. Refrigerate the tart shell for 20 minutes. Repeat with the remaining tart shells if using.
• Remove the pan or pans from the fridge and lay a piece of parchment over the chilled dough. Fill the uncooked tart shell with pie weights or dried beans or uncooked rice.
• Bake for 10 minutes, then, using oven mitts, remove the baking sheet from the oven. Remove the pie weights and parchment. Return the baking sheet to the oven, continuing to bake until the crust is golden brown, 5 to 8 more minutes. Let the pan or pans cool on a wire rack.
• Make the glaze and finish the tart: In a medium pot over medium heat, cook the apricot jam and water. Stir with a fork as it cooks until the mixture is a thin, shiny liquid, about 3 minutes.
• Take the pastry cream from the fridge and, in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on medium-high speed, beat the pastry cream to loosen it up. Spread the pastry cream in a thin 1/4- to 1/2-inch layer on the bottom of the tart shell.
• Carefully cut the strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, kiwi, mangos and figs. Arrange the fruit so there is no visible pastry cream. (You can make the tart look awesome by laying the fruit in cool patterns.)
• Once the fruit is arranged, use a soft pastry brush to paint it with the warm apricot glaze. Don't leave any bare spots. Make sure to glaze all the fruit. Take your time.
• Cut and serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 12 hours.

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, combine milk and butter. Cook and stir over low heat until butter is melted. Place the confectioners' sugar in a large bowl; add milk mixture and beat until smooth. Stir in the walnuts, maple flavoring and vanilla. Roll into 3/4-in. balls; place on waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour., In a microwave, melt the chips, bittersweet chocolate and shortening; stir until smooth. Dip balls into chocolate; allow excess to drip off. Place on waxed paper; let stand until set. Store in an airtight container.

Steps:

• Combine the sugars, syrup, butter and 1 cup of the evaporated milk, and bring to a boil. Add the other cup of evaporated milk slowly, stirring constantly, and cook until it reaches 255 degrees on a candy thermometer. Add the vanilla and pecans and mix well. Pour into a 9 by 11-inch greased pan and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature, cut into squares then dip in chocolate. If you'd like to make a turtle, spoon dollops of the caramel pecan mixture onto a greased sheet pan, with 5 pecans in each mound (4 legs and head). Refrigerate to set, then dip in chocolate.;

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and maple flavoring until light and fluffy. Gradually add confectioners' sugar and mix well. Stir in pecans. Shape into 1-in. balls. Cover and refrigerate for 1-1/2 hours or until firm. , In a microwave, melt chocolate chips and shortening; stir until smooth. Dip balls in chocolate mixture; allow excess to drip off. Place on waxed paper until set. Store in the refrigerator.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream the shortening, syrup and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Beat in the eggs, milk and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture and mix well. Remove half the batter to another bowl., Combine melted chocolate and pecans; stir into 1 bowl of batter. Spread into a greased 13x9-in. baking pan. Add coconut to remaining batter. Spread carefully over chocolate batter. , Bake at 350° until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack., For frosting, in a small bowl, beat butter until smooth. Gradually add the confectioners' sugar and cocoa. Gradually add syrup, beating until smooth. Fold in marshmallows. Frost bars.