Chocolate Cherry Mini-Tarts

  I mentioned that I've been doing a lot of cooking lately, and this is the latest thing I've made.

  Crispy little chocolate-coconut shells, filled with decadent chocolate ganache, topped with fresh juicy cherries... what's not to love?

  I saw a cherry-chocolate tart recipe somewhere a few days ago, but it was full of ingredients I didn't have on hand, so I closed the page. Later on, I decided to make my own version.

  Interested in making some yourself? Keep reading. =)

 You will need shredded sweetened coconut, sugar, cocoa powder, butter, heavy cream, semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips, and cherries.

Start by heating your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and greasing a muffin tin with shortening:

  Melt 4 tablespoons butter over low heat, being careful not to burn it. Remove from heat and add a tablespoon of cocoa powder:

    2 cups of shredded sweetened coconut

    And 1 tablespoon of sugar

  Mix it all together really well:

 
  Divide the mixture between your muffin cups, about 1 packed tablespoon each, and press it slightly up the sides and in the bottom of the cups:

  
  Bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes, until slightly crisp around the edges. While it is baking, pit your cherries:

  I don't have a cherry pitter and I wanted to leave the stems on, so I cut the cherries in half horizontally and twisted the pits out. You will need 3 cherries for each tin, 36 cherries total.
 
  By the time you are finished with the cherries, the crusts will probably be done baking. Pull them out, and start on the filling while they cool slightly.
 
  Pour 1/2 cup of heavy cream into a saucepan and heat it over low heat until little bubbles begin to form around the edges:

  Remove the pan from the heat and pour in half a bag (5-6 oz) of semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips. I used semi-sweet this time, but they were a little too rich for me, I would prefer milk chocolate:

  Mix so the chocolate is coated in cream and let sit for 5 minutes, then whisk them together:

  You should end up with a lovely smooth filling, like this. You can add a touch of vanilla extract here if you wish:

   Spoon or pour the filling into the coconut shells, a little over a tablespoon in each. Press your pitted cherries into the top.

  Refrigerate these until the filling has thickened and slightly set, an hour or so. To remove them from the pan, dip the bottom of it in hot water for about 30 seconds (I filled a larger pan with hot water, since my muffin pans don't fit in my sink) and pop the tarts out with a knife or fork.

  Serve immediately, or refrigerate for up to 3 days.
 
  I tried to take pictures with mine... brought them out into the perfect indirect natural light, as everyone recommends for great photos, and snapped away. I took at least 10 different pictures, and they all came out like this

   Blurry

  Worse, I didn't realize that they were so out of focus until I uploaded them today. I had to retry today, and under the stove light a few of them actually worked all right. =) Obviously, there aren't as many in this picture; that is because we ate most of them right after taking the first pictures. Considering that there are only 3 of us that are of tart-eating age, that should be a good testament to how delicious these are.

  Even if you don't like the texture of coconut, you should try them... my husband hugely dislikes coconut but he loved these. In fact, he said the crust was his favorite part. Just make sure you bake them until they are crispy.

    These would also be delicious topped with other fruits, raspberries or strawberries, whatever you like. You could even try using white chocolate in the filling for a sweeter treat.

 Here is the recipe all in one place:

Thanks for stopping by!