Simple Chocolate Tart

From The Naked Chef, by Jamie Oliver

The next two weeks I will concentrate on making tarts.  I was a bit apprehensive about making a tart and specifically about making the crust.  As I began my research I remembered a recipe my cousin had made when she was visiting us.  I decided to start with that recipe since I knew it was good.  However, what I did not know was how very simple it was.  Making tarts is a breeze with this recipe.  So impress all of your friends and family with this rich, smooth, and very simple chocolate tart.  The tart shell recipe makes two shells.  Save the second one for next week's recipe.

Kara - A Cook's Wares 

 

Ingredients:
1 tart shell (see recipe below)
1 cup plus 6 Tbs. heavy cream
2 level Tbs. sugar
a pinch of salt
½ cup butter, softened
1 lb. best-quality bittersweet chocolate, broken up, or 1 lb. Callebaut bittersweet calets for melting
scant ½-cup cold milk
unsweetened cocoa powder for dusting

Place cream, sugar and a pinch of salt in a pan and bring to a boil.  As soon as the mixture has boiled, remove from the heat and add the butter and chocolate.  Stir until it has completely melted.  Allow the mixture to cool slightly.  Add the cold milk and stir until mixture is smooth and shiny.  Sometimes this mixture looks like it has separated.  Allow it to cool down a bit more and whisk in a little extra cold milk until smooth.  Scrape all the mixture into the cooked and cooled pastry shell.  Shake the tart to even it out and allow it to cool for 1-2 hours until it is at room temperature.  Dust with the cocoa powder.  Ultimately the pastry should be short and crisp and the filling smooth and cut like butter.
  

Short Crust Sweet Pastry - Makes two 12-inch tart shells
1 cup plus 2 Tbs. butter
1 ¾ cups confectioners’ sugar
a pinch of salt
just over 1 lb. of flour (about 3¾ - 4 cups)
4 egg yolks
¼ cup cold milk or water

Before you begin making your pastry dough, keep in mind that you want to get your ingredients in a dough form with the minimum amount of mixing.  The more you work the dough, the more elastic it will become.

This dough can be made by hand or in a food processor.  Cream together the butter, sugar and salt and then rub or pulse in the flour and egg yolks (make sure not to over mix; if using a food processor keep pulses very short).  When this mixture has come together, looking like coarse breadcrumbs, add the cold milk or water. (If using a food processor you might want to move your dough to a bowl before adding milk or water to ensure you do not over work the dough.)  Pat and gently work together to form a ball of dough.  Lightly flour and push, pat and squeeze into shape. 

Roll or mold the pastry dough into a really large, short and fat sausage shape.  Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 1hour. 

Remove from refrigerator and slice off thin slivers of the dough lengthwise, about 1/8 of an inch thick. (I have found that using about an 8” slicer makes this task very easy.)  Place slivers in and around the bottom and sides of your 12-inch tart pan, fitting them together like a sort of jigsaw puzzle.  Then push the pieces together, level out, and clean off excess pastry from the sides of the pan.  Once you have finished lining your pan cover the pan with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for at least an hour.  (This recipe makes two 12” tart shells, so you can line your tart pans and store them in the freezer until you need them.  Once you have the crust done, it is easy to whip up a filling and have a fresh tart for company.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake the shell for about 15 minutes.  This will cook the tart shell all the way through, coloring it slightly.