Caramelized banana and milk chocolate tart recipe

Ingredients

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
• 1 large egg
• ½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons almond flour or almond meal
• 1¾ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch kosher salt

• 1¾ cups (14 ounces) heavy cream (divided use)
• 2¾ cups milk chocolate, finely chopped
• ⅔ cup bittersweet chocolate (61–70 percent cacao), finely chopped
• 2 large egg yolks
• ¼ cup plus 1½ tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 cup (8 ounces) whole milk

• 2 large bananas, each peeled and cut into 4 lengthwise quarters
• Raw turbinado sugar, about 2 tablespoons
• Raspberry coulis or puree, such as Perfect Puree, optional, for the finished dish
• Tiny mint or basil leaves, optional, for the finished dish

To Prepare the Cookies/Crust
1. Cream the butter and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed, until fluffy and smooth, about 1 minute. Stop and scrape down the mixture from the sides of the mixer, then beat in the egg.
2. Stir the flour, almond flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt together in a small bowl. Add to the mixer bowl in 2 additions, mixing each time at medium speed until just incorporated. Scrape the dough from the bowl onto a small plate. Cover with plastic and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight.
3. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
4. Line a baking sheet with a non-stick mat or parchment paper, lightly buttered.
5. Roll out the dough on a flour-dusted work surface with a flour-dusted rolling pin to ⅛ inch in thickness.
6. Cut the dough into 16 equal-size rectangles, about 1 ½ × 3 inches.
7. Place cookies on the baking sheet and bake for approximately 5–8 minutes, until lightly firm and golden.
8. Cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a baking rack.
To Prepare the Cremeux
9. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat ¾ cup of the heavy cream to soft peaks. Refrigerate the whipped cream until needed.
10. Place the milk chocolate and bittersweet chocolate in a large heatproof bowl.
11. Whisk together in a medium bowl the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture forms thick ribbons and becomes a light lemon color.
12. Warm the remaining 1 cup of cream and milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat until scalding, when a few bubbles break at the rim.
13. With a whisk in one hand and the warm cream-milk mixture in the other, drizzle the cream-milk mixture steadily into the egg yolk mixture, whisking rapidly to temper and emulsify. Pour the combined mixture back into the saucepan and continue cooking over medium heat, stirring with a rubber spatula, until the mixture coats the back of the spatula.
14. Immediately strain the hot mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into the bowl of chocolate. Mix with the rubber spatula until the chocolate melts. Cool to room temperature.
15. Fold the whipped cream into the chocolate. Chill for at least 1 hour and up to a day. Transfer the filling to a pastry bag with a plain tip. Alternatively, spoon it into a plastic zipper-lock bag and snip off 1 lower corner of the bag.
To Prepare the Caramelized Bananas
16. If you have a small kitchen torch, lay the banana pieces in a single layer in a greased small baking pan. If not, turn on the broiler and line a baking sheet with a non-stick mat or parchment paper, lightly buttered, and place the bananas on the sheet.
17. Sprinkle enough raw sugar over the bananas to cover them lightly but fully.
18. Caramelize the sugar using short bursts from the torch, until the sugar is deeply golden brown. Alternatively, place the pan under the broiler and broil briefly, a minute or 2.
Putting it all Together
19. Arrange 8 dessert plates on a work surface. Arrange a sable cookie on each for the bottom crust. Pipe two thick lines of crémeux lengthwise over the cookie, practically covering it. Place another cookie directly over the filling and top with a caramelized banana section, about the same size as the sable cookies. Add dots of raspberry coulis, if you wish, and tuck in a few pretty herb leaves. Serve right away.