I’ve always loved tarts, but even though I own about five different tart crust trays in every size imaginable, I have never actually made one.
I decided that the idea of mixing stuff in a bowl, kneading the dough and rolling it out over the tray for baking was simply too much work. That was until I had the stroke the good luck to bump into this mother-of-all tart crust recipes. The first time I heard it I really thought it was too easy to be true, but then again sometimes, we really do hit baking jackpot.
Despite its simplicity, this quick recipe (just 30 minutes!) yields a surprisingly crumbly and buttery crust that provides that perfect bit of bite to the ganache filling. The chocolate is also not cloyingly sweet, making for a delightful treat perfect for entertaining at home, and for satiating those inexplicable sugar cravings that hit you in the wee hours after your favourite dessert store has closed for the day.
I have since made this chocolate tart many times to rave reviews from friends and family. I’ve also tried filling the crust with custard and topping it with strawberries, and also a tarty (ahem, I simply couldn’t resist the pun) lemon cream.
This chocolate tart isn’t for the fainthearted because I actually DOUBLE the portion of ganache so that the tart literally runneth over, but the moderate sweet-tooths may wish to reduce the amount of fresh cream and chocolate for a better chocolate-crust ratio.
For the crust, you will need:
A 23-cm (9-inch) tart shell
90gm unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (I used canola)
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
150gm plain flour
Preheat your oven to 190 degree celsius.
1. In an ovenproof bowl, combine the butter, oil, water, sugar and salt.
2. Place the bowl in the oven for about 7-8 minutes, until the butter is bubbling and slightly browning at the edges.
3. When done, pour the flour into the bowl and give it a quick stir to combine all the ingredients together. You should hear some sizzling and sputtering from the hot butter. Stir until the mixture becomes a moist dough that pulls away nicely from the sides of the bowl.
4. Transfer the dough to your tart tray and spread it out using a spatula. When the dough has cooled, proceed to mould your crust.
5. Prick the base of the crust all over with a fork, and bake at 190 degree celsius for 15 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.
6. Let the crust cool before filling it with the chocolate ganache.
For the chocolate ganache, you will need:
250gm baking chocolate (I used Hershey’s semi-sweet mini chocolate chips)
100ml fresh milk
200ml fresh cream
2 teaspoons rum
1. Combine the milk and cream in a small saucepan and heat until tiny bubbles appear at the edges.
2. Add your baking chocolate and stir until it melts completely into the mixture (I prefer to turn off the heat halfway through to prevent the mixture from burning).
3. Stir in the rum and pour into your tart crust after the mixture has cooled.
(The tart crust recipe is an adaptation of a David Lebovitz recipe, see here for the original)
The Dainty Bluebird 