Chocolate Haupia (Coconut Pudding) Flag Tart
Happy early Fourth of July, guys!! I don't know if I've told you this yet but I love holidays. All holidays, traditions, and actually any excuses to celebrate with loved ones make me happy (themed parties also rank high on the list). Last year, my friend Jenn introduced me to the awesomeness of the American Flag Tart. Let me back up a minute and tell you about how I met Jenn. I met her while I was still at working at Williams-Sonoma's corporate office and had just dropped off a bunch of treats for the inner office St. Jude's Christmas bake sale. Being me, I of course lingered longer than I should have to stop and admire, and purchase, all the wonderful baked goodies everyone had brought in. And then I saw these ridiculous (in a good way) mini Momofuku Crack Pies and TKOs (Thomas Keller Oreos), perfectly packaged with adorable chalkboard tape tags and thought, "I need to be best friends with whoever made these." I asked everyone I knew who made them and when I was finally on the brink of giving up, I saw them pop up on the WS instagram. @Jennyeesf made them. I think I might have insta-stalked her for a little longer than I should have and the next day (I think it was the next day), I marched down to tell her how awesome I thought her creations were. The rest is history because we've been friends ever since. I knew I recognized a kindred spirit in the maker of those mini crack pies. :D
Anywhoooo, back to the flag tart! AMERICAN FLAG TART!! Last year Jenn asked me to help her assemble her flag tart and it was the first I had heard of a flag tart. Side note: yes, you do need two people to make a flag tart if and only if you want to successfully capture all the strategic berry placement that occurs ;). I'll never forget that tart nor will I forget that moment because I think it was when I realized that I'd never find another friend like Jenn. She lets me get my Asian tourist on, aka lets me stand on a chair to get that perfect food photo, lets me shoot a million iPhone shots of whatever we're eating, making, doing to allow for the perfect Insta capture, and thankfully, she can spend forever nerding out on pans, cookie cutters, and the like. It is in her honor that I share this chocolate haupia flag tart this year. And I filled it with chocolate haupia just because! Berries + chocolate + coconut = summer in my book and sure do look pretty when dressed up as the American Flag!!
Cheers to a wonderful four day work week (woohooo) and wishing you all a great long weekend filled with bbq, iced beverages, ice cream, tarts, and a lot of red, white, and blue!!
Chocolate Haupia (Coconut Pudding) Flag Tart
Chocolate Haupia Filling adapted from Allrecipes.com
Makes One 12-Inch-by-8-Inch Tart
INGREDIENTS
Macadamia nut tart dough, chilled for at least 30 minutes (recipe here) or store-bought pie crust of your choice
1/2 c. whole milk
1 (14 ounce) can + 1 c. divided) coconut milk
1 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. cornstarch
5.5 oz. (roughly 1 c.) semi-sweet chocolate chips or wafers (I used Guittard semi-sweet wafers)
1 c. heavy cream
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
seeds from 1 vanilla bean
15 oz. raspberries
4 oz. blueberries
TOOLS
Mixing and glass bowls
Measuring spoons and cups
Rolling pin
Fork
Pie weights or short-grain rice
Foil
Medium saucepan
Glass measuring cup
Silicone spatula
Whisk
Piping bag (optional: Ateco 808 tip)
FIX
Remove dough from fridge and let sit at room temperature for 5 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out into a 13-inch-by-9-inch rectangle, about 1/8-inch thick.
Grease and flour your pan. Carefully transfer dough to pan, patting firmly into bottom and up sides of pan. You should have exactly enough dough. Press it into sides to push it a little bit above the rim. This will offset any shrinkage that may occur during baking. Dock your dough (by stabbing with fork prongs all over).
Refrigerate or freeze until firm, about 30 minutes. While chilling, position rack in the lower third of your oven and preheat to 350°F.
Line shell with foil being sure to cover the top edges of the tart completely (for even baking) and fill with pie weights or raw short-grain rice. Bake for 20 minutes, then lift an edge of foil to see if the dough is still wet. If still wet, continue to bake, checking every 5 minutes, until dough is pale gold. You should not have to bake for more than 30 minutes. Remove foil and weights (rice). Continue to bake until the shell is golden, about 7 to 10 minutes more. Transfer to wire rack and cool completely.
Once cooled completely, remove outer tart mold from tart and set aside to be used later.
In a medium saucepan, whisk together milk, 1 can plus 1/2 cup coconut milk and 1 cup sugar. In a separate bowl, dissolve the cornstarch into water plus 1/2 cup coconut milk. Bring coconut milk mixture to a boil. Reduce to simmer and slowly whisk in the cornstarch mixture. Continue stirring mixture over low heat until thickened, about 3 minutes.
In a medium glass bowl, microwave chocolate chips in thirty second intervals, stirring in between each interval until chocolate is melted (shouldn't take more than 1 minute). Pour half of the coconut pudding into the melted chocolate and whisk to combine. Spread the chocolate mixture on the bottom of the tart crust. Carefully pour the remaining coconut pudding on top of the chocolate mixture and spread to smooth, taking care not to mix the two layers. Refrigerate for two to three hours or until completely set.
Whip cream with 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, and vanilla bean seeds until stiff peaks form. Transfer to piping bag (fitted with round tip if you have one) and chill in fridge till ready to use.
While tart is setting, arrange berries in outer tart mold. Fill the top left half of tart mold with a rows of blueberries, arranged snugly in rows then create rows of raspberries, skipping ever other row, as these will be filled with whipped cream. When tart is set, top with berries, recreating the rows you already created in the mold. Fill empty rows with lines or dots of whipped cream.
Serve and enjoy!
Note: The tarts are best the same day they are assembled. They can be refrigerated for 4 to 6 hours; remove them from the refrigerator 20 minutes before serving.