Maybe it’s the winter weather making me crave chocolate dessert lately. So I made a chocolate banana tart loaded with bananas, one of chocolate’s best friends.

Praline is a paste made with caramelized hazelnut. I mixed it to the chocolate, as I don’t like eating chocolate on its own. I ended up with a super familiar flavor, a richer Nutella, I might say. As it won’t last long and I don’t bake much, I used it up quick, generously adding it to anything and everything for flavor boost. :) Koreans’ best dessert compliment: it’s not too sweet, and lets you enjoy the rich flavor and aroma of the praline from start to finish.

* Ingredients (1 pie at 20.5cm diameter)

Tart shell
120g cake flour, 20g almond flour, 50g powdered sugar
1g salt, 1 egg yolk, 67g unsalted butter

Praline almond cream
30g almond flour, 30g egg, 30g sugar, 5g cake flour, 5g praline

Praline ganache
150g double cream A, 75g milk chocolate, 75g dark chocolate, 30g praline

Chocolate Chantilly cream
100g praline ganache, 200g double cream B

5~6 bananas, or as much as you like
200g double cream C, 20g sugar, some cocoa powder or chopped chocolate

* Method
1. Add all the tart shell ingredients except the egg in the food processor and blend.
2. When crumbles form, add the egg and keep blending.
3. Seal the finished tart shell dough in saran wrap or plastic bag and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
4. Take out the dough and roll out into 3mm thickness.
5. Line the tart mold with the dough and form the edges.
6. In a mixing bowl, beat and soften butter, left out at room temperature.
7. Add sugar, egg, almond flour and cake flour in said order and mix.
After adding eggs, use a spatula to fold the mixture to prevent getting air bubbles.
Sift the almond flour and cake flour before mixing to prevent chunks.
8. Add praline to this mixture and mix well. (*optional)
9. Load the piping bag with the praline filling and line the bottom of the shell
10. Bake in the oven preheated at 170°C for 25 minutes.
11. Take out of the oven and cool completely.
12. In a small pot, heat double cream A to about 90°C, before bringing to a boil.
13. Turn off heat amd mix in dark and milk chocolate.
14. Lastly, mix in the praline.
15. When the finished ganache cools to about 40°C, pour and fill onto the tart.
16. Top large chunks of banana over the ganache.
17. In another bowl, whip double cream B to about 50% stiffness.
The ganache will stiffen up the cream, so only beat to about 50% doneness.
18. Add and mix 100g ganache, cooled to body temperature.
19. Ice the finished chocolate cream in a dome shape.
20. In a bowl, whip double cream C and sugar to stiff peaks.
21. Cover the chocolate dome with whipped cream so that you don’t see the chocolate anymore.
22/ Finish off with finely chopped chocolate.