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Halloween Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart

Ingredients

Crumb Crust

  • 2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs any cream filled chocolate sandwich cookie will do, finely ground in a food processor
  • 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling (Peanut Butter Layer)

  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 tablespoons 1 ounce cream cheese, softened
  • 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup creamy peanut butter
  • ¾ cup sifted confectioner’s sugar

Chocolate Layer

  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
  • 1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips
  • Round chocolate candies such as malted milk balls
  • White chocolate chips melted and placed into a piping bag fitted with a small plain tip or cut tip off piping bag
  • Milk chocolate chips melted and placed in a piping bag fitted with a smaller plain tip or cut a small piece of the tip off the bag to create a small opening to make spider legs

Instructions

Make Crumb Crust

  • Preheat oven to 325° Fahrenheit.
  • Place the cookie crumbs and melted butter into a medium mixing bowl. Using a spoon, combine the mixture until it is the consistency of moist sand.
  • Press the crumbs evenly onto the bottom and up the sides of a greased 10-inch false bottom tart pan. Place the tart pan on a sheet pan and bake for 10 minutes.
  • While the crust is still hot, using the back of a small spoon, gently press the crumbs back up the sides of the pan if they have sunk down to the bottom. They will firm up as they cool.
  • Allow crust to cool completely on a sheet pan. Chill in refrigerator until ready to use.

Make the Filling

  • In the bowl of an electric mixer using the paddle attachment, combine the butter, cream cheese, corn syrup, vanilla and peanut butter until smooth and creamy. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to blend well.
  • On low speed, add the confectioners’ sugar and blend until light and fluffy. Using an offset spatula, spread filling evenly over the bottom of the cold crumb crust.

Make the Chocolate Layer

  • Whisk together the heavy cream, sugar and corn syrup in a medium saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil.
  • Remove from the heat and whisk in chocolate chips.
  • Allow the mixture to cool for 10-15 minutes and pour evenly over the peanut butter filling.
  • Chill the tart for 2-3 hours or overnight until the chocolate layer has firmed up.
  • Create a spider web: Pipe a white chocolate “X” through the center of the tart. Pipe another “X” 90 degrees from the first one dividing the entire tart into eighths.
  • Pipe arcs (with the curved side of the arc facing towards the middle of the tart) from one line to another to create a spider web. Pipe another set of arcs closer towards the center of the tart. It should now look like a spider web.
  • Decorate with spiders: Place 2 round chocolate candies together anywhere on the web, piping a tiny amount of milk chocolate under them so that they will stick to the tart. Pipe small legs beginning from where the two touching chocolate candies meet to create two legs going forward and two legs going backwards, then on the opposite side of the candies pipe two legs going forwards and two legs going backwards to create a total of 8 legs. Create as many spiders as you wish.
  • Chill tart until firm.
  • Remove tart from pan and place on serving platter.

Notes

Makes 1 10-inch tart