Well, it doesn't get any better than this...

Chocolate.

Hearken back to those many hundreds of years ago, when the Conquistadors brought back a ship load of magic beans instead of gold, and the kings and queens gazed upon their awesomeness and said, "So......what do we do with these?"

*crickets*

Those Europeans learned their value soon enough, though, and the deliciousness hurtled down through the centuries until this very time.  The time I have made Chocolate Mini-Tarts.

Start with pie crust.  You can make your own or use store bought.  I was in a hurry to make a batch to these for a school luncheon, so I opted for buying pie crust dough from the dairy case at the store.

I rolled it out a little flatter, and just used a clean plastic cup to cut out circles.  One crust made about 7.

I tucked the little crust rounds into muffin tins and filled them with pie weights to blind bake the crusts according to the package directions.

Here are the little crust cups, all baked and ready to fill.  The colors are a bit off in this picture.  My 10 year old was acting as photographer for this project, and he had a brief lapse of flash know-how.

Once cool enough to handle, I put a dollop of Dulce de leche in the bottom of each cup and spread it over the bottom of the crust.  This is optional, but I have to tell you, it tasted great!

For the chocolate filling, I used a whole bag of Ghirardelli Semi-sweet morsels.  I poured 1.5 cups of hot cream over the morsels and whisked until the chocolate had melted (this is basically making a ganache).  For extra flavor, you could add a tablespoon of your favorite liqueur.
Let them set in the fridge, then top with whipped cream as you serve them.

So simple.  Really Yummy.



So you'll need:
Pie Crust, bought or make your own!

A bag of semi-sweet morsels
1.5 cups cream
Dulce de leche, small can will do it, or make your own!
1 Tbsp liqueur, optional

Cut pie crusts to fit muffin tins, then blind bake them according to directions.  Let cool.

If filling, put your Dulce de leche in the bottoms of the pie crust cups.

If using liqueur, drizzle one tablespoon of chosen flavor over the chocolate morsels in a mixing bowl.
Heat cream to just before boiling, pour over chocolate morsels and whisk until smooth.
Pour into cups to desired fullness.
Chill until set.
Top with whipped cream as you serve them.