I think most of us who are cooking this Christmas have figured out the main course by now. At my house it’ll be duck, and I can’t wait for the burnished skin and all that extra fat for weeks of crispy potatoes.
But what about dessert? I was getting ready to make an old school English trifle, but then I saw my colleague Genevieve Ko’s stunning big chocolate tart recipe.
Jazzed up in the spirit of Piet Mondrian’s late compositions, it’s a genius presentation that feeds a crowd with as much élan as a classic French chocolate tart, and far less effort. Genevieve’s secret, which she learned from the pastry chef Pichet Ong, is to replace the traditional ganache with a silky chocolate cream that’s stabilized with sweetened condensed milk. Since it’s baked in a 9-by-13-inch metal cake pan rather than a tart pan, it’s easy to unmold, cut into irregular rectangles and decorate with freeze-dried or fresh berries, candied citrus peels, chopped nuts and flaky sea salt. It’s a pièce de résistance for the eyes and the palate.
