First things first: These tartlets are dangerous.
They're rich and sinfully chocolatey, topped with a little boozy meringue, and guaranteed to prevent you from stopping at just one bite. Don't blame me if "just a taste" turns into an entire tart; you were warned, after all.
Other reasons why I love them (and possibly also reasons why they're dangerous):
1.They're pretty easy to make - no finicky pie crust to wrangle here.
2.They look impressive with (seriously) minimal decorating effort.
3.They're spiked with rum (because apparently I really like to add booze to my holiday desserts).
4. They can easily be made gluten-free, which is just an added bonus in my book.
And might I add, every part of these tartlets is dessert-worthy on its own - that is if it were socially acceptable to eat pie crust or meringue by the spoonful, which I'm guessing it technically isn't. There's the crunchy, buttery gingersnap crust; the silky, luscious, rum-spiked chocolate filling; and that fluffy cloud of spiced, rum-ified meringue on top that's toasted to golden-brown perfection just before you dig in. It's basically three layers of pure heaven wrapped up into one dessert, I swear.
Will you eat an entire tart in one sitting? Probably. Will you feel guilty about it? Probably... but also probably not. #sorrynotsorry
Boozy Chocolate Meringue Tartlets with Gingersnap Crust {gluten-free}
Mini tarts with a creamy, boozy dark chocolate filling and crunchy gingersnap crust, topped with a fluffy cloud of rum-spiked spiced meringue.
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 (4 ½") tartlets 1x
Ingredients
Gingersnap Crust
- 9 ¾ ounces (2 ½ cups) gingersnap crumbs*
- 6 ¼ ounces (12 ½ tablespoons) salted butter, melted
Boozy Chocolate Filling
- 2 ⅝ ounces (6 tablespoons) granulated sugar
- 2 ½ tablespoons all-purpose flour*
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 8 ½ ounces (1 cup) milk
- 4 ⅛ ounces (½ cup) heavy cream
- 2 egg yolks
- 5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- ½ ounce (1 tablespoon) butter
- 2 tablespoons spiced rum
Rum-Spiked Spiced Meringue
- 2 egg whites
- 4 ounces (½ cup plus 1 tablespoon) granulated sugar, divided
- pinch of cream of tartar
- 3 tablespoons water
- 2 teaspoons corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- ¼ teaspoon all spice
- 2 tablespoons spiced rum
Instructions
Gingersnap Crust
- Preheat oven to 325ºF.
- Mix the gingersnap crumbs and melted butter together until thoroughly combined. Divide mixture evenly between four 4 ½" tartlet pans and press into bottom and sides, keeping thickness even throughout.
- Place tartlet pans on a baking sheet and scatter any remaining crust crumbs onto baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 10-13 minutes, until crust has puffed up slightly and no longer looks wet. Allow to cool to room temperature before prepping filling.
Boozy Chocolate Filling
- In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, espresso powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan, bring the milk and cream to a simmer.
- Place the egg yolks in a medium bowl and whisk lightly. While whisking, slowly stream the milk mixture into the egg yolks about ¼ cup at a time, continuing until all is added and evenly combined. Add the flour mixture and whisk in until smooth.
- Return mixture to saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until custard thickens and just begins to come to a boil. Remove from heat immediately and whisk in chocolate and butter until smooth. Add rum and whisk until smooth.
- Divide filling evenly between tartlets and refrigerate until cool and set, at least an hour. Sprinkle any remaining baked crust crumbs over filling before topping with meringue.
Rum-Spiked Spiced Meringue
- When ready to serve tartlets, prepare the meringue.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the wire whip attachment, combine the egg whites and cream of tartar and beat on medium-high until soft peaks form. Add 1 tablespoon sugar and beat in briefly to incorporate.
- In a small saucepan, whisk together remaining 3 ½ ounces (½ cup) granulated sugar with the water and corn syrup. Set over medium heat and stir constantly until sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil and maintain, without stirring, until syrup reaches 230ºF as measured by an instant-read thermometer.
- With mixer on low speed, slow pour sugar syrup along the side of the bowl into egg whites. Once all has been added, increase speed to medium-high and continue to beat. Once meringue is fluffy, beat in cinnamon, ginger, and all spice. Continue to beat until both the bowl and the meringue are no longer warm and meringue is fairly stiff and glossy. Towards the end of this time, beat in the rum, slowly streaming in 1 tablespoon at a time.
- Dollop meringue evenly between tartlets, using an offset spatula to spread over filling and form peaks and swirls. Carefully toast with a kitchen torch. Serve immediately.
Notes
*To keep this recipe gluten-free, use gluten-free gingersnaps and gluten-free all-purpose flour. (My favorite brand of GF flour is Pamela's). The gingersnaps can be ground into crumbs with a food processor or by hand.
Chocolate filling adapted from The Spice Train
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Janet Zarpie says
I would make bread and maybe candy for a snack
Carolyn Daley says
I would make apple and pumpkin pies.
Laurie Emerson says
I would make a New England Boiled Dinner.
David Smith says
We always use a thermometer to check if our chicken, turkey or other poultry is done all of the way. Our digital thermometer is falling apart and I have to mess with it to get it to work just about every time we use it.
Richard Hicks says
I would make hard candy using it