Gorgeous and remarkably easy, this chocolate tart is the perfect ending to an elegant dinner party. Your guests won’t be disappointed!
Recipe by Lila Bultel
Photograph by Vanessa Lewis
Chocolate tart
Ingredients
Sweet shortcrust pastry
- Makes about 600g
- 140g butter
- 125g icing sugar
- 25g ground almonds
- 2,5ml (½ tsp) salt
- ½ vanilla pod, finely grated
- 1 large egg
- 250g cake flour
Filling
- 900ml (3¾ cups) fresh cream
- 25g glucose
- 200g couverture chocolate (65%)
- 50g butter
- 200g sweet shortcrust pastry
Instructions
Place the butter in a food processor and, using the flat whisk, add the icing sugar, ground almonds, salt and the grated vanilla.
Add the egg and mix lightly. Add the flour and continue mixing until the pastry just begins to form.
Remove the dough from the bowl of the processor and place between two sheets of baking paper. Roll out to the desired thickness and refrigerate for 2 – 3 hours.
For the pastry, preheat the oven to 180ºC.
Place the cream and glucose in a heavybased saucepan and bring to the boil.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the chocolate. Stir until the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth and glossy.
Add the butter to the chocolate mixture, stirring continuously.
Roll out the sweet pastry to the desired thickness and use to line a 20cm fluted tart tin.
Place a layer of baking paper with baking beans on top of the pastry and bake blind for 15 minutes in the oven. Remove the baking beans and paper and bake for a further 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Once the tart has completely cooled, fill with the ganache. Refrigerate for 2 hours before decorating.
Notes
Cook's tip: The pastry is best left in the refrigerator overnight. The pastry quantity is enough for three 20cm tart cases. It freezes very well for up to three months. You could line a few tart pans with the dough and put them in the freezer, ready to prepare when you have unexpected guests. When baking blind, there’s no need to defrost the dough first.
