Where did the week go? It’s suddenly Friday morning and I haven’t written a word about this week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe, Double Chocolate and Banana Tart. Luckily though, I already made the tart last weekend, otherwise this would be short post indeed.
Quite a few of my fellow Doristas were really looking forward to this one. I, strangely, was not. No idea why, but chocolate and banana has never been a particularly winning combination for me. Now chocolate and raspberry, or chocolate and strawberry, or chocolate and coffee… yum! But somehow chocolate and banana has never topped my list. However, Dorie has an absolutely gorgeous photo of this tarte in her book, which makes it impossibly not to be at least mildly curious about this recipe, which is chocolate crust filled with caramelized bananas, chocolate ganache and then topped with fresh bananas. Doesn’t sound at all bad does it?
A quick read through the recipe reveals it to be one of those hurry up and wait recipes. First you need to make the tart dough, and then let it chill… then you need to bake the tart crust, and then let it cool… and then (if like me you decide to take Dorie up on her Bonne Idee to use nutella) you need to spread nutella over the tart crust, and then let it chill… then you need to make then caramelized bananas, and let them cool… and then fill the tart with chocolate ganache, and then let it chill…(phew, we’re almost done I promise)… and then top the tart with fresh cut bananas, brush with apricot glaze, and allow glaze to cool… and FINALLY you get to eat the darn thing!
To be honest, I didn’t let the glaze cool. By then I had had quite enough of waiting around for this recipe to be done and, more importantly, our guests had arrived, so we just dug in.
The verdict? Everyone who was not involved in the preparation of this tart thought that it was delicious! Chocolaty, rich, decadent, and delicious. Those of us who were subjected to all that waiting thought that this one was very tasty, but possibly a bit too high maintenance for regular consumption. Let’s just say that it would have to be a mighty special occasion for me to be willing to pull this recipe out again.
one expat's life 
This WAS good, wasn’t it? I of course made few changes, ahem! But the flavours were spot on!
This one didn’t excite me quite so much either – but everyone else in our house loved it…
Your tart looks lovely & I love the “hurry up and wait” descriptor.
Maybe this didn’t bother me so much because I divided the work into two days, making and freezing the crust one day, then the next morning, caramelizing bananas while the crust baked. That afternoon, after running errands, etc, I followed through with the rest. I guess it just managed to fit right into my schedule. Glad your guests liked it, even if it was a pain in the butt!
Rose, I also did mine in two days. I made the crust the day before I planned on serving the tart! Yours looks gorgeous! I loved the combo of banana and chocolate…but then I would love almost anything with chocolate! Have a great weekend!
I don’t mind a recipe like this where the steps themselves are relatively simple but it does require some patience! Your tart looks delicious!
Rose, your photos of your Double Chocolate Banana (Nutella)Tart are wonderful – they really show off all that shiny dark chocolate ganache! It is always nice to share food/dessert with friends.
Have a great weekend!
I’ll bet the Nutella added a great layer of flavor to this. I agree – I would have preferred this with berries! But, it does look ipressive! It’s nice to know your hard work was appreciated.
Have a wonderful weekend!
I was looking forward to this recipe the least because I know how Dorie’s tart doughs like to crumble and pull. Great post!
Mmm, yours looks delicious! I thought the waiting around was a little annoying too but the finished product was well worth it!
I loved this one — but maybe because I felt so awesome about getting all the make and wait bits to work for me (meaning, I filled them up with more cooking!). Great photos.
Your ganache is so shiny it looks like a chocolate ice skating rink. I love it! I’m glad your guests enjoyed it and it is such a pretty dessert to serve to company.
Your tart is elegant looking and I agree with you on the getting it made. Since I made a different pie recipe along side of this one, I kept busy during all the “wait” times and it worked out for me, but if this tart had not been eaten in one evening, I’m sure it would not keep with all those bananas. Nutella sounds great…I want to try that one, and with raspberries as a garnish. That really gets me excited.
LOL – this was definitely a high maintenance tart, so for the same reason, it won’t be on my regular hit list, although it is rather devine.
“Everyone who was not involved in the preparation of this tart thought that it was delicious!” Love that line! True, it was a bit high maintenance whipping it all together in one day. I do like the idea of strawberries, maybe strawberries sauteed with a little Grand Marnier, nestled under that ganache, and forget those bananas 😉
Oh, but the guests count for something, don’t they? And, it was delicious. I split the preparation into two days because, I agree, it would make for a long day of hurry-up-and-wait. Still a brilliant and tasty looking dessert and one which would marry well to any fruit combo. If you take the caramelizing bananas out of the formula, and throw in an easier fruit, it would be perfect, my opnion only.
Your tart looks delicious. I made the Nutella version so that I could speed things up (since I waited until the last minute…). Because of my errors, I didn’t really have a problem with the waiting (plus I use the freezer), but I agree, I don’t like all of the fussiness sometimes. I thought this was really good though and think it would be great with alternate flavors as well.
I don’t know if I’d make it again either because it was kind of a pain but it was fun to make something so pretty. Yours looks so shiny and beautiful!
I liked it, but next time, I would make it a little less chocolaty (plain crust, more caramelized bananas). The waiting didn’t bother me, but maybe I didn’t really wait long enough between steps. I only remember waiting for the crust to chill and the ganache to set. Everything else I just did, and it all turned out OK. Your ganache is the most perfect, glossy, smooth one I’ve seen. Nice.
Your chocolate looks absolutely amazing!
I was not looking forward to this one, because I was thinking nit would be a pain…too many steps. Hopefully, this will be worth it when I finally make it. Your tart looks great!
I am with you on how these weeks seem to be picking up speed ! Nana had her delist tart done early and shared with my family and mine got done just under the deadline 🙂 Still always fun and thank goodness it was easier to knock out that ganache than I thought. Your tart is gorgeous and that last shot of the styled plate is “off the charts” !!!
I’m not very discriminating, I love chocolate with almost anything, but I’m glad this was better than you were expecting. There was an awful lot of waiting for this recipe. I think I worked on it for several consecutive nights. I agree, in the future this will be a special occasion only recipe.
How on earth have I missed so many recipes!!! I remember I really wanted to make this one! Looks so good!