Dark Chocolate Ginger Cherry Tart + Old Soul Bourbon
THE ULTIMATE HOLIDAY PAIRING YOUR NEVER KNEW YOU NEEDED.
According to Cathead Distiller Phil Ladner, different bourbons pair well with several types of pie, making Thanksgiving the ultimate time of year for bourbon lovers.
For example, Phil recommends enjoying a glass of Old Soul Bourbon (Cathead’s 
newest product) on the rocks alongside a slice of chocolate, pumpkin, cherry, or apple pie. The bourbon’s notes of toffee and baking spices, and its rich, earthy finish, make it a great partner for these traditional holiday pies—which boast similar spice flavors including cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. Old Soul is the bourbon that you need for this holiday season.
The ‘Old Soul’ Process: Old Soul is a precise blend of whiskey, each bottle with an identical high rye mash bill. Each barrel is reviewed by nose and palate –the old-fashioned-way –and expertly blended from whiskeys distilled in Mississippi and Indiana. It’s hand-made and hand-selected, making Old Soul the perfect metaphor for the bourbon—one that is thoughtfully crated with a nod to both tradition and the future.Old Soul is aged in traditional 53-gallon, American white oak barrels in Cathead’s barrel room in Jackson, MS. Terroir is a big factor in this bourbon’s aging process, and the strong Southern heat and humidity offer an ideal environment for maturation –and producing older flavor notes within shorter times. Since it’s rarely cold in Mississippi, the liquid is, for most of the year, expanding into the oak, pulling complex tannin flavors of dried fruits and notes of vanilla to the distillate. The team has found that the heat and humidity of the Jackson climate strongly advances flavors that are found in older bourbons aged in Kentucky and Indiana.
Behind The Name: In other words, like an ‘Old Soul’, this bourbon shows maturity of a much older, longer-aged statement bourbon. Also reflected in the name is Cathead’s goal to preserve the past of bourbon and distilling, while innovating the art of bourbon whiskey —with the bottle’s label boasting the phrase, “A nod to tradition and to the future.”
Where To Find: The bourbon will be distributed with a regional concentration on Cathead’s immediate footprint in Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina markets. It is available nationwide via Cellar.com.
NOW…the moment we’ve all been waiting for…our digital drop of our covergirl: Dark Chocolate Cherry Ginger Tart.
This holiday showstopper takes a little work, but the combination of dark chocolate, cherries and ginger is worth the effort. The best news - you can make it the morning of your brunch and dessert is ready to go!
For the cherries:
1 lb cherries, pitted
1 cup sugar (200g)
1 cup water (200g)
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2-inch piece of fresh ginger, quartered
For the crust (pate sucree):
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature (225g)
1 cup granulated sugar (200g)
2 large eggs, room temperature (110g)
4 cups all-purpose flour (520g)
3 tablespoon cocoa (12g)
1 tsp salt (4g)
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
For the ganache:
1 cup heavy cream (250g)
2 cups bittersweet chocolate (350g)
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
For the Swiss meringue:
4 egg whites, room temperature
1 cup sugar (200g)
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
To make cherries: in a small saucepan, combine all ingredients and cook for 10 minutes until cherries are softened. Transfer to a container and infuse overnight in the refrigerator.
To make crust: in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add butter, sugar, and vanilla bean paste and gently cream for three minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each egg is incorporated. Slowly add flour, cocoa, and salt until a stiff dough forms. Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface and divide the dough into two pieces. Knead the dough for two to three minutes until a smooth dough forms, then wrap and chill overnight. To roll the tart shell, place the sucree dough on a lightly floured work surface and roll the dough to the size of your tart pan. Gently transfer the dough to the tart pan(s) and press the dough into the pan. Dock the dough with a fork and then place in freezer for two hours. Once shells are frozen, preheat oven to 325 degrees and bake 20-25 minutes until the crust appears dry and opaque. Once the tart shell is cool, place drained cherries over the bottom of your tart shell.
To make ganache: in a double boiler, fully melt dark chocolate. Alternately, melt chocolate in the microwave, stopping and whisking every 30 seconds to prevent scorching. In a separate saucepan, bring cream, honey, and salt to a boil and immediately remove from heat. Carefully whisk the hot cream into the chocolate until fully incorporated. Immediately pour the ganache over the cherry-lined tart shell.
To make Swiss meringue: place the bowl of a stand mixer over a simmering pot of water, creating a double boiler. Alternately, place a medium stainless steel or glass bowl over a pot of simmering water. Place egg whites and sugar in the bowl and whisk to combine. Continue whisking and cooking the meringue until it reaches 160 degrees. Once it reaches 160 degrees, remove the bowl and place on the stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, whip the meringue until glossy and stiff, about 10 minutes. Add cream of tartar in the last minute. A hand-mixer may also be used. Transfer meringue to a piping bag fitted with a star tip and pipe meringue over the tart. Torch the meringue using a small kitchen torch. You may also add the meringue without a piping bag using the back of a spoon to create swirls of meringue. The meringue is fully cooked, so no need to bake!