French Fridays with Dorie - Double Chocolate and Banana Tart

Today`s choice for the French Fridays with Dorie group is the Double Chocolate and Banana Tart. Yesterday was Fathers`  Day here as well as Ascension Day – so we all had the day off from school and from work. The decision on what to do on this beautiful sunny day was relatively quickly made – it took a lot less time than waiting for the Tart to cool and set up properly in the fridge. The Tart had to be firm enough so that I could take it along as a posh dessert for our picnic.

Finally, in the afternoon, we were all set to go (I knew that I should have prepared some of the tasks the day before). In order to make transportation easier, I prepared the Tart in a smaller tart pan with higher sides than the original recipe calls for but, otherwise, I followed the recipe as written by Dorie and inspired by the French chocolatier Christian Constant.

From the photos you might have seen that we did not have the picnic in our backyard. We had decided to visit the so-called “Landpartie” (“country outing”), a yearly four-day event where 120 exhibitors show off their artistic works and foods from around the country to about twenty thousand visitors (www.landpartie-adendorf.de). This event takes place at the Adendorf Castle which is a mere twenty minute drive from where we live.

The Adendorf Castle is a moated castle that was constructed between 1655 and 1670. It has been owned by the von  Loë family since 1829. The current owners, Georg Baron von Loë and his wife Gabriela Baroness von  Loë, are the sixth generation of this aristocratic family to live in the castle and for the last ten years have graciously agreed to welcome thousands of people to their “home” to enjoy a bit of the “castle life” for a few hours (www.burg-adendorf.de).

Once we all had a chance to admire the wonderful works and wares from the florists….

or the wine merchant…

or the broom-maker…

or the wood carver…

and have a long look at the colorful sculptures made out of glass…

or made out of metal…

And once we all had marveled at the wooden works of art…

and even at Huckleberry Finn catching a fish in the castle pond...

we could finally look for a quiet place away from all the visitors, unpack a sandwich or two and that Double Chocolate and Banana Tart. And I could ponder life in general and put together a first draft in my head of the blog post for the next day...

There is a lot of photos this time  - but I can honestly say that while taking all the pictures, I carefully carried the Tart around with me, I did not want to have it crumbling apart before being able to serve it. It is a recipe that I personally would not have chosen to make. But I did make it, it was not difficult at all. You just had to follow the instructions carefully and all of the ingredients required to prepare this tart were easy to find. All in all, it had a nice chocolatey crust and the banana flavor together with the chocolate flavor of the crust and the  dark chocolate ganache harmonized well.

To see how the other Doristas prepared the Double Chocolate Banana Tart and admire their works of art, please click here.