Serves: 6-8
Difficulty: Hard
Preparation time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Freezing time: 30 minutes
Refrigeration time: 2 hours 30 minutes

How much do you like chocolate? If your answer is ‘a lot’ then this is the dessert for you. This chocolate almond tart recipe from the choccy experts at the École du Grand Chocolat Valrhona combines a rich chocolate ganache and a light almond pastry. It’s quite intricate to make but it’s well worth putting your pâtisserie skills to the test for.


Ingredients

For the almond shortcrust pastry

  • 1 stick (4 oz./120 g) butter, room temperature
  • Scant ½ teaspoon (2 g) salt
  • 2/3 cup (3¼ oz./90 g) confectioners’ (icing) sugar
  • 3 tablespoons (½ oz./15 g) ground blanched almonds
  • 1 egg
  • Cake flour, divided: 2/3 cup (2 oz./60 g), plus 2 cups (6 oz./180 g)

For the bittersweet chocolate ganache

  • 12 1/3 oz. (350 g) bittersweet chocolate, 70 per cent cocoa
  • 1 cup (250 ml/250 g) whipping cream
  • 1 tablespoon (15 ml) acacia honey
  • 3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon (1 3/4 oz./50 g) butter, diced
  • A little melted chocolate to brush the tart shell

Equipment

  • 1 tart mold
  • 1 kitchen thermometer
  • 2 sheets food-safe acetate or parchment paper
  • 1 pastry brush

Directions

1Prepare the almond shortcrust pastry. Soften the butter and combine it with the salt, confectioners’ sugar, ground almonds, egg, and 2/3 cup (2 oz./60 g) cake flour. As soon as the ingredients are mixed through, add the remaining flour, and mix quickly, until just combined.

2 Roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/8 in. (3 mm) between 2 sheets of acetate or parchment paper. Place it, completely flat, in the freezer for 30 minutes.

3When the dough has hardened, peel off the sheets and cut it out to the desired shape. Line your tart mold or pan with the dough and return it to the refrigerator for 30 minutes (so it retains its shape during baking), then preheat the oven to 300°F-325°F (150°C-160°C) and bake until it turns a nice golden colour, about 15 minutes. Leave to cool for 15-20 minutes.

4Prepare the bittersweet chocolate ganache. Chop the chocolate and melt it slowly in a bain-marie or in the microwave oven (on “defrost” or at 500 W maximum, stirring from time to time).

5Bring the cream to the boil with the honey.

6Gradually pour one-third of the boiling cream over the melted chocolate. Using a flexible spatula, mix in energetically, drawing small circles to create an elastic, shiny “kernel”. Incorporate the second third of the cream-honey mixture, using the same procedure. Then repeat with the last third.

7When the temperature cools to 95°F-104°F (35°C-40°C), stir in the diced butter. Process for a few seconds using an immersion blender so that the mixture is smooth and perfectly emulsified.

8At this stage, brush a fine layer of melted chocolate over the cooled tart shell to seal it. As soon as it has hardened, pour the ganache into the shell and chill for about 2 hours. Serve it at room temperature.

9Be sure to eat this tart the day you make it if you want to enjoy the crisp pastry and creamy ganache at their best.

IMAGE © CLAY MCLACHLAN


First printed in our sister publication France Today

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4 COMMENTS

  1. In the ingredients list, item 4 says that I need, “3 tablespoons, plus one”……. um, of what exactly? S’il vous plait? The recipe sounds scrumptious but what is the mystery ingredient please?

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