Mocha Tart!

There are so many reasons I'm looking forward to the rest of this week. One reason is the beginning of groups at HVCC, and I'm very pumped for the group that Ryan and I will be leading this fall, Foundations. It should be a fantastic study, and a great time of discussion and learning with awesome people. We will also share coffee and dessert together...which is a very nice perk (no pun intended.)

I am bringing the first week's dessert, so I will debut my Mocha Tart recipe for these unsuspecting folks. Hope everyone likes the rich Mocha flavor.

Here is the recipe:

1 graham cracker crust (It is so easy to make your own or, if you're not able to, just use a store-bought one :-)
4 oz. or half a package of cream cheese, softened (I use the 1/3 fat kind.)
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 small packet, or 1 level tbsp instant coffee powder (You'll find instant coffee in the grocery store right next to the regular coffee - this stuff is great for baking/desserts!)
1/4 cup sugar
1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Melt cream cheese over low-medium heat. Stir in heavy cream and sugar. Whisk together. Allow mixture to heat up, just until bubbles form around the edges. Remove from heat. Meanwhile, empty chocolate chips into a big bowl and then pour in the hot cream-cheese-heavy cream-sugar mixture over that and let it sit like that for 5 minutes. The heat from the hot cream will melt the chocolate chips. Five minutes later, the chocolate will have nicely melted, whisk it all together until nicely combined. Pour into the graham cracker crust and let set in the refrigerator overnight. This is a great dessert to make ahead - like several days ahead. Nothing like alleviating a little bit of stress off the big day, right?

I hope our group enjoys it tomorrow!