Chocolate Tart
I had never thought of making a chocolate tart, before I found one on the breakfast table of a hotel in Ancona. And for true chocoholics it’s an instant hit.
Compared to brownies or chocolate almond cake, this chocolate tart is less sweet and more intensely flavoured. The pie shell gives it a light crunch, while the filling tastes of dark chocolate with a soft, but firm texture not unlike Viennese nougat without the nuts. An utterly delightful way to start the day or end a meal.
Ingredients
Tart Shell Pastry:
250 g flour
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
A pinch of salt
200 g butter
1 egg
Filling:
100 ml milk
50 g butter
200 g dark chocolate 70 %
1 tbsp cocoa
50 g sugar
50 g flour
4 eggs
Preparation
To make the pastry: Mix flour, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
Add the cold butter, cut it up and rub it in with your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Add beaten egg to the mixture and perhaps a little cold water if necessary.
Press the crumbs together to make a non-stick pastry.
Wrap the pastry in cling film and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Roll out the pastry into a 12-inch circle between two layers of cling film.
Remove the top layer of cling film
Grease a tart pan with butter and use the bottom cling film to lift the pastry and turn it around into the pan.
Press the edges onto the sides of the pan, and remove the cling film.
Remove excess dough with a knife.
Blind bake the tart at 200 C /390 F for 20 minutes, ie. the tart should be lined with aluminium foil and filled with dried beans while baking.
Meanwhile prepare the filling:
Heat milk and butter in a casserole without bringing it to the boil.
Mix the hot milky mixture with chopped chocolate to make the chocolate melt.
Beat the eggs with sugar to a thick cream.
Stir in flour and cocoa.
Continue stirring while the chocolate milk is poured into the egg mixture.
Remove the foil and dried beans from the tart shell and fill it with chocolate cream.
Turn down the oven heat to 180 C / 350 F for another 15 to 20 minutes until the filling is set.
Cool the chocolate tart before cutting.
Catching story, bit where in Ancona? I live in the near.
I don’t remember if it was Hotel Fortuna or Albergo Italia, but it was across the street from the railroad station, and – apart from the chocolate tart – not particularly memorable.