Yesterday was one of those days, you know the kind, where everything you do takes 5 hours longer than it should. I had set some lofty goals for myself around the house and in the kitchen, including hanging bathroom hardware, washing and folding the 50 loads of laundry that had mysteriously piled up over the weekend, spending 30 minutes on the treadmill, baking the Chocolate Cream Tart for Tuesdays with Dorie, carving and cooking a country ham, and making homemade pizza for dinner. In my mind this seemed quite achievable.
Well, I ended up only hanging one of the eight toilet paper holders/towel rings I planned to install (I consider myself pretty handy with these things, but I always seem to encounter some kind of crazy kink – set screws that won’t loosen, hitting a stud in the wall, dry wall screw-holder-thingys that just turn ’round and ’round in the wall and never tighten). I’m just glad the kids weren’t home to witness the string of profanity that followed.
The afternoon was spent in the kitchen: Pizza dough, check. Tartlet crusts, check. Ham, check minus. House filled with smoke from something in bottom burning, check. Smoke alarms going off, check. Window that won’t close, check. Pastry cream, check. Dinner not ready until 7:45, check. Whipping cream over-whipped, check.
I was ready for some chocolate therapy and this recipe was it.
A dark chocolate shortbread crust, creamy chocolate pudding-like pastry cream in the center, and a fluffy whipped cream topping makes up this tart from Baking: From my home to yours. The recipe can be found at Scrumptious Photography by Kim, who chose this delicious tart as part of TWD’s death by chocolate marathon in April.
I made four tartlets and they were enough to share or save for the next day. I liked this best after chilling the crust and pastry cream. It was just like something you would find in a great pastry shop or gourmet restaurant. Check plus.
I still have about 25 loads of laundry to finish today, and half a ham to carve, and I’m not sure if I’m ready to tackle another toilet paper holder.
What treadmill?
Shortbread 
Bwahahahahah!
I have days like that…well…every day.
Glad to know I’m not alone, and that I have the cure…chocolate.
I also am glad to find that there is someone else out there that 1) has days like that and 2)goes right for the chocolate!
Don’t you hate days like that? Glad to know that the chocolate tart made it all better! It looks fabulous!
Days go like that, don’t they? LOL. It’s fun to read about everyone else’s day and how that tart got made at their homes. Your tart looks so beautiful…the way that cream sits on the top is just so elegant! Very very nice.
Smoke in the Kitchen. Check!! Yup, been there, done that. Sounds like a typical day around here.
Tartlet looks great.