The third time we were stationed in Tampa, Florida, we lived just down the road from RG’s North, one of the nicest restaurants in the city. We arrived for this assignment with 4 month old twins, so we didn’t eat out a lot during the next three years. We did dine at RG’s once, and we had the Chocolate Pecan Toffee Mousse Tart. It was fantastic. You can imagine how thrilled I was that The Tampa Tribune included RG’s Chocolate Pecan Toffee Mousse Tart in their round-up of Tampa’s Most Popular Deserts in the Food section on October 16, 1986.
I mention the date because I want you to know how long I’ve kept this newspaper clipping. It’s a classic dessert, one that I’ve made on and off throughout the years. In the beginning, it seemed like a very complicated recipe to me. I made it this weekend. It was my contribution to a meal the church staff prepared for the Episcopal Campus Ministry students. They were looking for both a dessert and a gluten-free dessert, and this yummy tart filled both squares. I have to say now that I’ve made so many of Rose Levy Beranbaum’s recipes, RG’s Chocolate Pecan Toffee Mousse Tart isn’t complicated at all! A distinction I know my fellow Heavenly Cake Bakers and Alpha Bakers will appreciate.
I must say the mousse itself is very simple and is my favorite way to prepare a chocolate mousse for any use. When you add the crunch of the pecan crust to the light and creamy mousse and finish it off with a drizzle of toffee sauce, it’s a memorable dessert and one that justifies blogging about a non-Polish recipe this week.
This recipe as it was published makes 2 12-inch tarts. I was preparing mine in disposable aluminium pie pans, so they were a little smaller and left me with enough fixings to make two additional 4-inch tarts.
The restaurant closed in 1991, but RG’s Chocolate Pecan Toffee Mousse Tart lives on.
Enjoy!
Lois
It’s good to have a digital copy of this recipe; who knows how’s much long my newspaper clipping will hold together!
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RG’s Chocolate Pecan Toffee Mousse Tart
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 2 12-inch tarts
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Description
A light and creamy chocolate mousse in a pecan crust topped with a toffee sauce
Ingredients
for the crust:
- 1 pound pecans
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup water[
for the mousse:
- 28 ounces semi sweet chocolate
- 2 ounces vegetable oil
- 32 ounces heavy cream
for the sauce:
- 1/2 pound unsalted butter
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 16 ounces heavy cream
Instructions
for the crust:
- Grind pecans in food processor until fine, about 45 seconds, transfer to
a bowl - Melt butter completely and add sugar
- Keep beating and stirring until the mixture is a thick, smooth paste
- Remove from heat and stir in water to create a syrup
- Pour hot liquid over the ground nuts and mix
- Butter or spray 2 12-inch tart pans
- Press the pecan mixture into pans and bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown
- Cool
for the mousse:
- Melt the chocolate and vegetable oil in the top of a double boiler, stirring occasionally, it will be smooth and liquid
- While the chocolate is melting, whip the cream until soft peaks form
- Add the hot chocolate mixture while continuing to blend on the slow speed of your mixer
- Scrap the bowl to be sure the chocolate is well incorporated
- Pour into cooled pecan crusts
for the sauce:
- Melt butter over medium high heat and add sugar
- Stir frequently
- Continue until the mixture is a deep caramel color, the butter and sugar may be separating at this point, no problem
- Remove from heat and while stirring constantly, stir in the cream
- CAUTION: massive amounts of steam will be released when you pour the cream in, you may want to wear and oven mitt while stirring to avoid a burn
- Keep refrigerated
- To serve, slice into 12 – 16 slices and top with warm toffee sauce
Notes
I usually make the toffee sauce a little darker than it appears here. I chickened out this time and quit cooking too soon. It was at 300 F at this point.
An accountant by trade and a food blogger since 2009, Lois Britton fell in love with Polish cuisine during the years she lived in Poznań, Poland. As the creator of PolishHousewife.com, she loves connecting readers with traditional Polish recipes. Lois has a graduate certificate in Food Writing and Photography from the University of South Florida. She is the author of The Polish Housewife Cookbook, available on Amazon and on her website.
Julie Kenkel
I’m so glad you published the recipe and can’t wait to try it! Can you elaborate on the cooking instructions for the butter and sugar in the crust section? Thanks!
polishhousewife
I think you have some flexibility here, Julie. You just need it to be syrupy enough to glue the ground pecans together, and the time in the oven helps with that too. When I made it this time, I feel like the sugar was just beginning to get some color before I took it off, but in the past, I think I haven’t cooked it that long. It’s been a lot of years in between preparation this time. Do you think restaurants give vague instructions because their chefs don’t need details, or to keep us coming back rather than making our own? 😉
Julie Kenkel
Thanks Lois!
Elizabeth Beaudoin
Oh YUM….does the recipe include a membership to the gym so you can work off the calories?
polishhousewife
I haven’t even dared to put the ingredients into a recipe analyzer!
Richard Maurer
Smacznego
polishhousewife
Dzięki!
Michelle
My hips and flappy arms love you so much!!!!!
polishhousewife
Ha, back at ya!
David
Yum! This sounds fantastic, Lois!
polishhousewife
Thanks, David!
Judy Thirl
I worked at RG’s in the 80’s , best restaurant ever ,
This desert is amazing, Chef Eric was amazing also ,
I don’t remember it being called a tart ,
It was made as a whole pie , yummy
polishhousewife
That’s amazing, it was a special occasion place for us.
Sam
I also worked at RG’S in 1986 or 1987 during my Chef’s Apprenticeship. Chef Eric was never there, Sous Chef Bill ran the kitchen then This is Marty Blitz’s recipe. He is Chef/Owner of Mise En Place in Tampa, one of Tampa’s premier restaurants and I think this dessert is on the menu there. Yes, chef’s are vague about the directions or ‘forget and leave out an ingredient”. lol One thing I did which made it easier to make is add the cream and chocolate together in a microwave bowl with 2 T butter crisco and melt the chocolate in the microwave. Remember, the chocolate will continue to melt once you remove it from the microwave. Do not overheat the chocolate. Then cool it down to 40-45 degrees while stirring it every 5 minutes or so. Then simply whip it with your electric beaters until fluffy. Don’t over beat it though, it will turn to chocolate butter. lol This is much easier than adding warm chocolate to whip cream. You risk breaking it if your temps are not right. We used Belgium chocolate at Rg’s. The better the chocolate the better the mousse.
Lois Britton
Sam, thanks for the tip and sharing the backstory on RG’s.