Nutella Inspired Tarts

Yesterday I featured Nutella Inspired Truffles. Today I am featuring Nutella Inspired Tarts. This creation is based off yesterday's recipe: both use the same primary ingredients and have the same flavors, but neither of them actually uses Nutella - just chocolate and hazelnuts used to recreate the beloved flavor. Actually, I suppose I featured these posts in the wrong order, as the original recipe was meant as a pie or tart crust, and I formed some truffles with the leftover mixture. Either way, the base recipe is featured in yesterday's post. Here is the process I used for making these tarts.

I used miniature aluminium pie plates and pressed the crust mixture into them in a layer thick enough to cover the pan. Then I stuck them in the freezer until firm. Once firm, I gently removed them from the pie plates. In hindsight, although this may allow for a prettier presentation, it was not the best idea for transporting and serving the tarts. Since the crust mixture is not baked, it falls apart easily when handled too much or warmed to room temperature, so the tarts would have held together much better if I had left them in the pan.

Making the best of things, I placed them on a plate and did not move them until it was time to eat. The filling is a chocolate cream cheese mixture. I then used cranberries to form a heart on each tart, and garnished with some meringue icing I had (as I prefer it to whipped cream based on flavor), as well as some strawberry slivers. 

This makes nice individual tarts where you can vary flavors to suit your tastes (see yesterday's truffle post) and create unique designs. Alternately you could make one large pie, but I like the elegance of individual servings.