My dad’s coming home today from his trip from India and I made an awesome Nutella & Cream Cheese with Chocolate-Pretzel Crust Tart to celebrate!
Just to get this out of the way: My dad doesn’t read my blog nor does he have Facebook, so I’m pretty confident he won’t find out about my tart surprise until he gets home. So don’t worry, I’m not spoiling any surprises here by posting this. 
Anyway, my mom asked me to make something for my dad for his “homecoming” from his 5 day work-related trip in India. Since I’ve been on full steam baker mode lately, I decided to whip up something special in the kitchen, just for him.
I still have a humongous jar of Nutella sitting on our cupboard, so I searched the internet for some Nutella pie recipes and I stumbled upon this mouthwatering tart:
lifted from http://familyspice.com
Wow. I mean, wow. That’s one gorgeous tart! Plus, the recipe’s extremely simple, so I jotted down the ingredients and rushed off to the grocery.
The best part about this tart is that it combines all of my favorite things: Nutella, Cream Cheese (Philadephia Cream Cheese, of course!), Rold Gold Pretzel, Butter and Hershey’s Chocolate Kisses. Yes, they’re all rolled together into one sweet & salty, AWESOME TART! It’s quite an expensive tart, to be honest, but c’mon, my dad deserves it. Following Jenna’s lead, I’m even naming the tart after my dad: My Dad’s Coming Home and It’s Awesome Tart.
Since I had work yesterday, I started with the tart crust early in the morning, before heading out.
Mashed Pretzels
I just mashed 2 cups of pretzels until I had 1 cup of crumbs. I don’t have a processor at home and our mortar and pestle died during Ondoy, so I resorted to whatever I had at home: my hands and a batirol. Haha, so sorry to all die-hard chocoholics out there! Sorry for “desecrating” the batirol!
I wanted a bit of texture in my crust so I didn’t completely crush all of the pretzels. Of course, you may choose to further mash the pretzels to achieve a finer crust.
Melted Butter and Chocolate
In a double boiler, melt 3/4 cup chocolate chips (I used Hershey’s semi-sweet chocolate chips for that darker taste) and 1/4 cup unsalted butter over medium heat, while stirring constantly until smooth.
Can I just say, unsalted butter is crazy expensive! It’s almost twice the price of regular butter. I had to close my eyes when I popped this over at the counter. I wonder where I can get cheaper unsalted butter…
Mix in the pretzels!
Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in the pretzels.
Salty and Sweet Crust
Then pat down the pretzel-chocolate-butter mixture on the bottom and the sides of a tart pan. But before this, make sure to grease your tart pan with butter or non-stick spray. It also helps if you have a tart pan with a removable base, just like mine. I bought mine during a Bakery Fair.
After filling in the tart pan with your crust, place this in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. But since I had work, I left this in the refrigerator for hours, which also works. The thing I love best about pies and tarts is that once you have the crust, you can leave it for a long duration and go back to it when you time again. Definitely great for working girls! 
~Back to baking after work~
~Also the start of poorly lighted pictures, sorry!~
Nutella & Cream Cheese
Cream Cheese and Nutella Filling
Now it’s time to work on the filling – time to say goodbye to your Cream Cheese and Nutella stock! Using a hand mixer, whisk together 1 cup cream cheese (at room temperature) and 1/2 cup Nutella.
Chocolate Pretzel Crusted Tart with Cream Cheese and Nutella Filling
Then spoon the Nutella-Cream Cheese mixture over to the Chocolate-Pretzel crust evenly.
Top off with fresh fruits!
Then to add a health illusion to this rich, sweet and salty pie (haha), top it off with fresh fruits! I initially wanted to place strawberries and any other berries I could find in the grocery, but they’re apparently not in season right now. I tried two groceries and came out with zero strawberries, so I just bought two types of grapes for color contrast: red and black seedless grapes.
Adding a health illusion to this tart!
I know I need lessons in food styling but I tried my best to garnish my tart. (Where’s my food stylist when I need him? *ehem ehem Paolo Mandingiado*) But it’s the thought that counts, right? Haha.
Anyway, I haven’t tasted the tart yet since I’m still waiting for my dad to arrive but seriously, how can you go wrong with Hershey’s Chocolate, Rold Gold Pretzels, Philadelphia Cream Cheese, butter and Nutella?
I really hope he comes home early. I just can’t wait to dig into this HEAVENLY TART!
Welcome home dad! SURPRISE!
—
*Just an update after eating the pie*
THIS IS THE BEST DESSERT TART I’VE TASTED 
Nutella + Cream Cheese = MAGIC! I love how sensual the silkiness of the nutella and cream cheese filling on my tongue, leaving such a rich and bold hazelnut flavor, slathered with so much loving creaminess. And every bite ends with a crunch from the salty pretzels and a thick chocolate aftertaste from the Hershey’s semi-sweet chips! Then the natural sweetness of the grape fruit comes in and cleanses the palate for yet another bite! I tell you, this pie is pure bliss! Hands down, this is my favorite tart!
