Some time ago I posted a recipe for a dark chocolate tart. It was a recipe I made up that produced a great result, but nonetheless could use a little bit of refinement. So here is a new and improved version that is better than ever. I made this iteration for my test kitchen appointment over at Kitchensurfing. Here I went the extra step of making a chocolate tart shell to hold the filling. The addition of sliced almonds and coarse sea salt—along with some instant coffee and hazelnut liqueur—takes the flavor profile to a whole other level.
Chocolate Crust:
- 1 cup flour
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 large egg
- dry beans (for blind baking)
Procedure:
- Cut the butter into the dry ingredients. You can do this by hand or using a food processor. You should keep going until the largest pieces are no bigger than a pea.
- Incorporate the egg until dough just begins to come together. If too dry, then add a few drops of cold water to the dough.
- You can then use a fancy technique called fraisage to bring everything together, or you can just keep mixing until you see it forming a ball in the machine. Be careful not to work it too much.
- Form the dough into a disc and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to rest.
- Preheat oven to 350˚F.
- This dough is fairly sticky, so a good tip is to roll it out between two pieces of parchment paper. Place in tart pan and fill with dry beans on top of a piece of parchment paper. Bake for 15 minutes.
- Let cool and remove beans. You are now ready for the filling.
Salted Chocolate Tart Filling:
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
- 1 tsp. Frangelico (hazelnut liqueur)
- 1 Tbsp. instant coffee
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds
Procedure:
- Heat heavy cream on the stove until it just comes up to a boil. Pour over chocolate chips and stir to melt.
- Separately, whisk eggs and sugar together until well blended. Stir in salt, Frangelico, and instant coffee.
- Slowly add chocolate mixture to egg mixture. (This is called “tempering.” The warm ingredients are added to the eggs a little at a time so you don’t end up with chocolate scrambled eggs.)
- Pour filling into cooled tart shell and top with almonds. Bake in preheated 350˚F oven for approximately 30 minutes. (You can check for doneness by giving the tart a shake to see if the filling still jiggles.)
The top photo from my time with the folks over at Kitchensurfing includes a coffee whipped cream, which was simply a mix of heavy cream, powdered sugar, and instant coffee. Over the summer I used a simplified version of this recipe to make a more kid friendly s’mores pie and it was a HUGE hit. For the s’mores pie variation I used a graham cracker crust; omitted the Frangelico, instant coffee, and sliced almonds; reduced the salt in the filling to 1/2 tsp; and topped with marshmallows. Yum, yum, and more yum!
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Betsy @ Desserts Required says
Those additions sure do take your tart to a whole new level. As in a heavenly level!
Diane says
This sounds delicious! Frangelico and coffee in this tart will bring it up to a whole new flavor level. Yum!
Elle @ Only Taste Matters says
This looks amazing! I can’t wait to try it!