Easy Decadent Chocolate Tart Recipe
Simple, elegant, and delicious. Simple, elegant, and delicious. Beautiful recipe of chocolate tart flavored with cinnamon and star anise. A perfect complement to the holiday dinners.
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 520kcal
Ingredients
Tart crust:
- 1 ¼ cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour plus extra for dusting
- ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder preferably Dutch-processes
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¼ sticks unsalted butter chopped into small cubes
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Chocolate filling:
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1 vanilla bean split or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 star anise
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 7 ounces semisweet dark chocolate broken into pieces
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
To decorate:
- cinnamon sticks , a few star anise and unsweetened cocoa powder
Instructions
How to make the crust:
- Place the flour, cocoa, salt and sugar together in a large mixing bowl or on a smooth floured work surface. Toss the ingredients together lightly with your fingertips.
- Scatter the cold cubes of butter over the dry ingredients. Use your fingertips to work the butter into the flour mixture until it forms pieces the size of small peas.
- Gather the mixture into a mound, and make a volcano-like well in the center. Pour in the egg yolks and vanilla. Use your fingertips to break up the yolks and moisten the dry ingredients. The dough will be crumbly and really cohesive.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gather it into a rough square. pat it down to compress it slightly.
- Cover it with plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes before using it.
- Any leftover dough can be frozen for up to 6 weeks.
- When ready to use it, roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to 2 inches larger than your pan.
- Lift your dough over a rolling pin and lightly drape it over the pan.
- Press the dough gently into place with your fingertips.
Prebake the pastry shell as a "blind bake":
- Prick the bottom of the pastry shell with a fork. Chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes(this will help to stop it from shrinking during baking.)
- Place a large piece of parchment paper over the bottom and sides of the pastry shell. Fill the bottom with pie weights or dried uncooked beans.
- Bake it at 350F for 8-10 minutes, remove the weight, and bake for another 4-5 minutes or until the bottom is dry and crisp.
- Leave the pie crust in the pan and continue with your recipe.
Chocolate mixture:
- Put the cream, honey, vanilla bean (or vanilla extract), the cinnamon stick and the star anise into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and set aside to steep for about 5 minutes.
- Place the chocolate in a large bowl. Pour the flavored cream through a strainer over the chocolate. While the mixture is warm, add the butter and stir gently using a spatula until blended.
- Don't over-stir. Pour the mixture into the cooked pastry shell and let set in the refrigerator.
- Decorate the tart by dusting cocoa powder over it, and add the cinnamon sticks and star anise.
Notes
To make the dough in a food processor fitted with a metal blade:
- Put the flour, cocoa, sugar, and salt in the bowl and pulse just to blend. Add the cubed cold butter and pulse a few times until the pieces are about the size of small peas.
- With the food processor running, add the egg yolks and vanilla extract and process just until crumbly. Do not overwork it. Turn it onto a work surface and bring it together into a square. Wrap it in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes. Continue with the recipe.
Nutrition
Serving: 1g | Calories: 520kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 45g | Saturated Fat: 27g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 144mg | Sodium: 89mg | Potassium: 230mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 23g | Vitamin A: 1220IU | Vitamin C: 0.3mg | Calcium: 57mg | Iron: 2mg
