My niece's birthday cake

How precious is my niece?!?  Being an aunt is the best and I feel blessed that my niece and nephew live nearby and I can see them often.  On Thursday nights, we have dinner at my parent's with my brother, sister-in-law, niece & nephew, and my grandmother.  I look forward to it all week and it's extra fun when we have a birthday to celebrate.  My niece turned 3 this past week and my sister in law brought this dessert.  I wanted to share the recipe because the tart was so delicious, and gluten free (it was much better than the grocery store cake big sister begged for . . . shhhh . . . don't tell).

The dessert is rich so you'll be able to get more servings out of this than something lighter of this size.  We had it with vanilla ice cream but whipped cream would be good too.  The jam part at the end is optional.  I left in the ingredient notes from my sister-in-law's friend Abby (thanks for the recipe!) in case you have dairy sensitivities.

Chocolate Raspbery Tart with Pecan Crust (8-12 servings)

2 cups pecans, toasted

6 tbsp brown sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup butter, melted (or ghee)

3/4 heavy cream - if using goats milk use 1/2 cup since it's thinner

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped 

1 pint raspberries (or strawberries, blueberries or combo)

1/4 cup seedless jam (optional)

whipped cream (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Process pecans, brown sugar, and cinnamon until finely ground then add melted butter until just moist

2. Press crust into 9 -inch removable bottom tart pan (or spring form or a regular pan if you don't have one)

3. Bake until golden brown - about 25 mins and cool on rack

4. Bring cream to a simmer, remove from heat and add chocolate - stir until smooth

5. Pour chocolate over cooled crust and refrigerate until chocolate has hardened

6. Arrange berries on chocolate.

7. If using jam, heat if over low heat in saucepan to make it easy to spread

8. Using pastry brush, brush jam over berries

9. Serve with whipped cream - optional