Making the Chocolate No-bake tart

I saw a video on Facebook that several of my friends had posted, so I thought I would try my hand at making it.

(Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4fbOGxiFDc )

It seems fairly easy on the video and, in fact, it was. I had some problems with the mechanics of the recipe, though. I think I may need look into making more tarts. I've never understood the difference between a tart and a pie, really.

I went out this weekend and bought a tart pan because, although I had a springform pan, I didn't have a tart pan. The tart pan I bought has a removeable bottom, and straight-ish fluted sides. It's red. It's not like the one in the video, which is rectangular. I'd never seen a rectangular tart pan before. I looked online at the department stores in my area for a rectangular one, but there were none in stock. Most stores only offered one or two tart pan options and all of those were round. I wanted to make the thing this past weekend, so ordering it from someplace was right out.

The filling is a basic ganache (you pour hot cream over chocolate bits, let sit for a minute, stir/whisk to combine, and that's it.). The recipe called for about a 1:1 ratio on the chocolate to cream (1 cup each). Some comments on the recipe stated a problem with the filling not setting up. I looked up the ratio for ganaches, and increased the amount of chocolate to about a 2:1, instead. No problems with it setting up. I used Ghirardelli chocolate chips, the 60% cacao ones...the recipe advocated a 70 to 73% cacao, but in my opinion, that is a bit too bitter for the taste I'm looking for. Also, then I'd have to chop the chocolate, which is why I use chocolate chips in the first place, and chips melt better.

It was the crust that gave me problems. The recipe calls for 32 oreos (or joe-joes, or hydroxes, or whatever black chocolate sandwich cookie suits your fancy on the packaged cookie aisle.). You dump them in the food processor, whirl them to crumbs, add a stick of melted butter, combine and press into the tart pan. The recipe says you should freeze the crust, which I did, and then add the chocolate filling.

I did not add strawberries or the chopped nuts that the recipe calls for. They are just a topping. Some people at my house won't eat fruit that's put into a recipe. (O! the horrors!) Strawberries are expensive and it's a little early in the season yet.

When I tried to unmold the tart, the crust crumbled. The sides stuck to the pan. I did spray the pan before I put the crust in. I think I may need to spray the sides more, and maybe put a round of parchment in the bottom.

The filling only reached halfway up the crust, so I may have needed to make more filling. The volume of the rectangular pan (5 x 14) is probably less than the 9" round pan...I don't know. I think the top of the tart should be nearly even with the sides--that may address some of the crumbling issues, but not all of them.

It was very edible. It's VERY rich, of course...you need to have black coffee handy for this and eat it slooooowly, one bite at a time. The crumbly crust only added impetus to make it disappear.

I think part of my problem with the crust could be solved by baking it for about 10 minutes or so, similar to what I've done when making cheesecake. It needs to adhere to the filling, not to the pan, and making sure the filling goes nearly to the top of the shell would help with that, too.

Other cookie crust recipes call for less butter, less cookies, etc. I will have to research this a bit more.

Taste-wise, it was very good...it may have needed a bit of salt or something to bring out the chocolate tang more. Maybe some chilis...but then that may be a bit too wild for some people. It's also better eaten at room temperature. I cut very thin slices...there's still a few left, if you believe it. You can't eat more than one sliver of it a day, it's really that good.

Discoveries! Making a Weaving Planner.

Weaving Planner: Notes, Calculations, Yarns and Samples

Since I got my own loom, I am in the process of planning--or trying to plan a project for it. My house is stuffed to the gills...well, maybe not quite...with piles of loose papers--recipes, crochet and knitting patterns, books, photos, etc. I didn't want to add more loose papers for yet another craft into the already burgeoning piles. I was looking for a working weaving planner/journal/scrapbook type of thing. So I had googled "weaving planner" and I was looking around online, but not really finding exactly what I wanted or needed.

For a weaving draft, you need to have a grid portion or page, regular lines to make notes, and a place to tape (or post) actual yarns, and a finished sample--or photo/scan of the woven fabric. I could have taken a binder and interspersed graph paper and college ruled, too. I wanted something I could lug around that would stand up to falling off the loom bench onto the floor, scribble ideas on and not have to worry about messing up.Granted, eventually I'll want to make up a scrapbook with nifty papers, and pockets, etc., maybe as something to show (off) to others. But not right now.

Someone had posted photos of a notebook a weaver had used to plan and record his/her projects. I forget what site I was on. It was from the either the teens or twenties in the 1900's. The person who posted the photos had found the notebook in a thrift store...in, um, Scotland, I think. The photos really grabbed my attention because one side had quad rules (a grid) and facing page was ruled (i.e. regular notebook paper). Just what I was (sort of) looking for! 

A closer look at the cover of the notebook revealed "engineering notebook" printed on it from the publishers/printers. So I did another search...this time on Amazon and a couple of other office product websites. I also searched for post its with a grid pattern...since I was sure that those existed, as well. I was right!

 The Mead composition book to the left, has the top half of the page in grid format and the lower half wide-ruled, the way it looks on the cover.

The National Brand notebook to the right, has a full page of each type, facing each other.

I looked for these on several websites, trying to see if they had them in an actual STORE where I could run over and grab it myself. No such luck. They had them available for order online, but not in the brick and mortar location. Or at least, not in the places I'd normally shop for paper products.

I suppose I could have found the post its and one of the two notebooks at a college bookstore or a teacher's supply store, but it would probably also be overpriced. It is possible that the notebooks are in stock in the office supply stores in the late summer and fall when they have back to school sales. But I don't ever recall seeing the grid post its anywhere. I ended up ordering these from Amazon as part of another order so I could get free shipping.

National Brand  Engineering and Science Notebook, interior

Post Its with a grid pattern!

The post its can be used to temporary drafts, and that way, you don't mess up an entire notebook page. They are "super sticky" so you can stick them to the castle of the loom or the front beam. That way you can see what you're supposed to be treadling and keep track of the pattern while you are weaving. Tape messes up the finish on the wood. You can also stick a post it with the draft on any kind of paper to use as a weaving planner/journal if you don't want to bother with an engineering-style notebook.

I couldn't decide which of the two notebooks to get, so I got both. The Mead has a sewn composition-style binding, which I like. I'm concerned about the smaller space for the project development, though. The National Brand one because it has full pages of each type for notes--plenty of space to develop an idea or design, if only to do the math for warp and weft calculations. The spiral binding can be problematic because it can get scrunched.

I will have to try them both and see which works better. I will post updates.

Update: 3/14/15
I am in the process of entering my dishtowels in the white weaving planner. I've made some mistakes, because the squares are very small. So I decided to combine 4 of them to make a size I can see to work with.