The Recipe Pot

** Recipe from Annie's Eats **

For the crust:
* 1 large egg yolk
* 1 Tbl. heavy cream
* ½ tsp. vanilla extract
* 1 ¼ c. all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the work surface
* 2/3 c. confectioners’ sugar
* ¼ tsp. salt
* 8 Tbl. cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes

For the ganache:
* 2 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
* ¼ c. heavy cream
* 1 Tbl. unsalted butter, at room temperature

For the filling:
* 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
* ½ c. confectioners’ sugar, sifted
* ½ tsp. vanilla extract
* 2 Tbl. milk or cream

For topping:
* Fresh strawberries, sliced (approximately 12 oz.)
* Melted bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, for drizzling (optional)

To make the tart shell, whisk together the egg yolk, cream & vanilla in a sm. bowl; set aside. Place flour, sugar, & salt in food processor.  Process briefly to combine.  Scatter butter pieces over flour mixture; process to cut butter into the flour until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 15 - 1 sec. pulses.  With machine running, add egg mixture & process until dough just comes together, about 12 secs.  Turn dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap & press into a 6" disc.  Wrap in plastic wrap & refrigerate at least 1 hr. or up to 48 hrs.  Remove dough from refrigerator.  (If refrigerated for more than an hr, let stand at room temp. until malleable.)  Unwrap & roll dough out on a lightly floured surface to a 13" round.  Transfer dough to a 9" tart pan.  Mold dough to sides of tart pan & remove excess off top.  Set dough-lined tart pan on large plate & freeze 30 min.  Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to middle position.  Preheat oven to 375.  Set dough-lined tart pan on baking sheet, press a 12" square of foil into frozen shell & over edge, and fill with pie weights.  Bake 30 min, rotating halfway through baking time.  Remove from oven & carefully remove foil and weights.  Continue to bake until deep golden brown, 5-8 min. longer.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool.  For ganache:  place chocolate in a heatproof bowl.  Bring cream to a simmer in a sm. saucepan.  Remove from heat & pour over chocolate.  Let sit 1-2 min. to melt the chocolate.  Whisk together until a smooth ganache forms.  If there are still bits of unmelted chocolate, microwave in 10 sec. intervals, whisking in between, until ganache is completely smooth.  Whisk in butter.  Spread ganache in a thin even layer over bottom of cooled tart shell.  Allow ganache to set before proceeding.  For filling: beat together cream cheese & powdered sugar, on med-high, until smooth.  Blend in vanilla & milk or cream.  Spread cream cheese mixture over cooled ganache in tart shell.  Starting from the outside & working toward the center, place sliced strawberries in concentric circles slightly overlapping each other.  Gently press berries into cream cheese mixture to help keep them in place.  Drizzle with melted chocolate, if desired.  Chill until ready to serve.