If you are a chocolate lover, then you gotta try this easy and simple chocolate tart. It’s extremely silky, thick and tastes fabulous underneath a scoop of ice cream. The best part? I didn’t make this in a tart pan. BECAUSE I DON’T OWN ONE. So you really can make a delicious tart in a cake or pie dish like I did. Just make sure it’s only 9 to 10 inches maximum. You won’t get that classic tart look…but just tell everyone it’s *rustic*.
This recipe is going to be two steps: 1. The tart dough 2. The chocolate filing. The pastry needs to be refrigerated for at least 30 minutes before it’s rolled out, so be prepared to do this part a bit ahead of time. Nothing is worse than reading the directions and realizing you have to wait an hour in the middle of things – so I’m warning you right now.
The tart dough prep
The good news: you can make this dough with your hands and just a bowl! No food processor required. In the bowl, start by mixing flour, granulated sugar, salt, and baking powder in a bowl. Make sure your butter is COLD. This is important because we need the butter to be cut into little cubes that will be incorporated into the dough. If it’s not cold, the whole thing will become a warm mess.
Add the butter
Work the butter chunks in with your hands, mixing it up with the flour until only pea size pieces of butter remain. To do this, I will sort of squish some of the butter with my fingers to break it up some more. This may take a couple minutes.
Add the egg
Then we add 1 egg yolk to the mixture. Stir it into the flour and butter mixture until it starts to come together. You need to use your hands again to start kneading the mixture into a more proper dough. Push the butter into the egg and flour and work it into one cohesive ball. You can take it out of the bowl and form it into an oval disc. Wrap in saran wrap and refrigerate!
Bake the tart crust
Remove your dough and add flour to the surface. Roll out the tart dough until it is large enough to cover your pan of choice. The dough should be 1/4 inch or so thick. Move the dough to your pan and press the dough into the pan firmly. If using a tart pan: cut off the excess. If using a cake or pie pan: cut off the excess and pinch the borders like you would a pie. The tart will have a thicker border this way but it actually tastes quite good :).
Be sure to bake the pie crust with foil lining the top AND with some kind of weights on top. Pie weights like these ones from Williams Sonoma work, OR you can just use a bunch of uncooked rice. This will keep the crust from swelling and puffing too much.
After we cook it for a while, remove the weights and the foil. Brush the tart with the remaining egg white everywhere, and then put it back into the oven until it is SLIGHTLY golden – we have to bake it again with the chocolate filling so don’t over do it yet.
The chocolate tart filling
Luckily, the filling is really easy. In a pot, we are heating cream and then adding sugar, chocolate, vanilla and salt. Then we add in a couple of eggs for a shiny, thick consistency.
Once the filling is ready, pour it in the tart! PRO TIP: Before doing this, put a large baking sheet under the tart pan, because this will be difficult to transfer to the pan when it is so full of liquid. If you have more filling than will fit in the crust, DON’T pour all of it in. That will be a mess. Fill it just to to the top or a little less.
Keep an eye on the tart in the oven. If it looks like it’s starting to crack or bubble, remove it! It is for sure done.
Decorate the simple chocolate tart
I used peaches and thyme, but use whatever you want. Serve with ice cream too! Enjoy!
If you love this simple chocolate tart, try my chocolate bourbon cupcakes with buttercream or my blood orange olive oil cake.
Simple Chocolate Tart
Equipment
- 10 inch tart pan or 9 inch cake can
- aluminum foil
- uncooked rice or pie weights
- Rolling Pin
- small pot
- pastry brush
- saran wrap
Ingredients
For the pastry dough
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¾ cup unsalted butter cold, cut into small cubes
- 1 egg separated into yolk and egg white
- ¼ tsp salt
For the filling
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ½ cup almond milk or skim milk
- 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chopped
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- 2 eggs beaten
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 peach sliced for decoration
- thyme for decoration
Instructions
For the pastry
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and position a rack in the center. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and granulated sugar with a whisk. Slice the butter into tiny bits and then add to the mixture. Work in the butter with your fingers, until only pea-sized lumps remain. Add just the egg yolk. Mash it into your flour and butter and knead it with your hands until it becomes a dough. Form the dough into an oval disc, wrap in saran wrap and place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
- Remove the dough from the fridge and roll it out until it's around ¼ inch thick. Grease your cake pan or tart pan and carefully place the dough into your pan. Press the dough firmly into the pan and cut off any access that hangs over. You can also pinch the dough around the border like you would a pie (if you are using a cake pan).
- Place a piece of aluminum foil in the pan and pour on pie weights or a few cups of rice to keep the foil down in the crust. Bake the tart crust for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and remove the aluminum foil and rice (or pie weights). With a pastry brush, coat the crust with the remaining egg white. Bake in the oven once more (without foil) and bake for an additional 8-10 minutes until the crust becomes a golden but not super baked brown color. Remove from the oven and let cool.
- To make the filling, start by heating the cream on medium heat in a small pot until the cream begins to simmer and slightly bubble. Remove from the heat and add in the chocolate and the vanilla and stir until melted. Add the sugar and salt and stir together until the mixture is smooth. In a small, separate bowl, beat the two eggs with a fork before pouring into the cream. Stir until well blended.
- Adjust your oven temperature to 325°F. Place the tart or cake pan on top of a baking sheet for easy transfer. Carefully pour the filling into the tart pan. Do not let it overflow.
- Move the pan to the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until the surface looks firm but glossy. It should NOT be cracking as that is a sign of over baking. Let cool.
- Slice and enjoy as it or top with sliced peaches and thyme.
