Milky Way Tart & other Treats

Happy Halloween!

While I didn’t dress up or get scared by any costumes this year…I think most of us around here got quite the surprise by the freak snow storm we got last night! 

We were luckier than some, but unfortunately Brian and I did return to a power-less house last night!  I’m just SO thankful it came back on early this morning, because I know a lot of people are still in the dark!

On the upside, we had a fabulous evening at Megan and her fiancé Jeff’s condo last night!

Megan, working with the Tri Lamb group, hosted a Fall themed pot luck with a lamb dish being the focus of the meal!  Brian and I both love lamb, so we were excited about it!

The recipe she was sent to make was for a lamb pizza with goat cheese and arugula!  I was a BIG fan of this pizza!!

There was also a plethora of other treats:  cheese, crackers, meats, hummus, Elina’s spinach artichoke dip, Justin’s white chili, Emily’s pretzel bites, butternut squash soup, and more I can’t even remember.

p.s. I want this cheese board (actually I think I registered for it, but never got it…bummer)

There were even “lamb jokes” spread around the room

(the sLAMBer…get it?)

It was a really relaxing night, and I realized no one else was taking too many pictures, so I just put my camera away too :)

I do, however, have plenty of shots from the making of my dessert :)  Megan made some gorgeous mini chocolate orange cupcakes, and the cutest pumpkin/chocolate tartlets! 

I was trying to think of a “fall” dessert, but instead went more for a “Halloween” theme…candy!

As soon as I flipped to it’s page in the Flour Bakery cookbook, I knew it would be a winner!

Milky Way Tart!

I’m a big fan of the candy bar, especially the mini version, but this tart just takes it to a whole new level of awesome!

It’s a fairly simple ingredient list, and procedure, however the different components have different cooling times needed so be sure to read the WHOLE recipe before you dive in!  In that same regard, this would also be a great dessert that you could prepare all the components a head of time!

Lucky for you I found this whole recipe reprinted online, so I will link over to it and just give you my notes :) 

Find recipe here (although I HIGHLY recommend just buying the book, it’s a good one!!)

Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston's Flour Bakery + Cafe

As I said, very simple ingredients…

• I made the chocolate cream for the mousse first thing in the morning, as it needs to chill for AT LEAST 8 hours!
• I used instant espresso powder instead of instant coffee and only used 1 tsp.  I was worried it was still too coffee tasting, but the final product was amazing and you couldn’t detect the coffee.  My mom loved it and she hates coffee, so don’t worry about that and DON’T skip the coffee!
• I love making caramel
• The caramel needs to cool for at least 4 hours, so I made it around noon

I always use my copper pot for caramel :)

• Have your caramel ingredients measured out and ready before starting to cook the sugar

In no time you’ll have gorgeous caramel

A little later I got to work on the dough for the crust

• I used a rectangular tart pan, as opposed to the circular one in the recipe, and in my case my crust cooked faster!
• I checked the dough at 25 min and it was even slightly more browned than I would have liked, but luckily not burned and still delicious.
• Once the crust was cooled, I whipped the mousse.
• The recipe says soft peaks, and I did just that, but I think I could have whipped it a tad longer and will next time.
• I also let the caramel come more to room temp before spreading it into the crust just to make it easier.
• When it says the milk chocolate should be slightly warm for ideal “curling” conditions, we’re talking on the verge of melting warm!  Mine wasn’t really warm enough, nor did I have a long enough piece so my curls didn’t really curl.

In the end, it came out lovely :)  At this point it was supposed to chill for 30 min to set, however we were late and I decided I could let it chill at Megan’s place.  Not the best idea as it shifted a little en route, and was a little “melty”, but luckily no one cared because it tasted great. 

I can’t wait to make this again!!  Everyone seemed to really like it which is always a relief :) 

This is an impressive looking dessert, and even though it takes some time, it’s very straightforward and everyone will love it :) 

Megan told me they would make this as mini tarts in the Bakery…LOVE that idea :)

Hope you have lots of treats (and no tricks) this Halloween.

Hmmm guess we should actually get some candy for the trick-or-treaters…

So, what's your favorite candy??     I love Twix, sour patch kids, peanut M&M’s, and the Midnight milky ways (ooo that would be a yummy Tart too!)