Recipes
Chocolate Tart on a Crisp Semisweet 54% Pastry Base
A chocolate tart is the dessert that always impresses: a thin, crisp pastry base topped with a smooth, glossy ganache that sets to the texture of a velvety cream. It's one of those patisserie classics that look difficult but really come down to a handful of simple steps and good chocolate.
The key here is a ganache made from semisweet 54% chocolate - intense enough to give real depth, yet not so bitter that it takes over the dessert. ADIKAM callets melt evenly into the warm cream, giving a perfectly smooth, mirror-like mixture.
Ingredients
- Pastry base:
- 200 g plain flour
- 120 g cold butter, diced
- 60 g icing sugar
- 20 g natural cocoa
- 1 egg yolk
- 1–2 tbsp cold water
- a pinch of salt
- Ganache:
- 300 g semisweet 54% chocolate (callets)
- 300 ml double cream, 30–36% fat
- 40 g butter, at room temperature
- 1 tbsp honey or glucose syrup (for shine)
Method
- Quickly rub all the base ingredients (except the water) together with your fingertips, or pulse in a food processor, to coarse crumbs. Add the yolk and just enough water to bring the dough together. Shape into a disc, wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.
- Roll the dough out to about 3 mm thick and line a 24 cm tart tin with it. Prick the base all over with a fork and place in the freezer for 15 minutes.
- Blind-bake the base at 180°C for 15 minutes with baking weights (paper + beans), then remove the weights and bake for a further 8–10 minutes, until dry and crisp. Leave to cool completely.
- Tip the chocolate callets into a bowl. Heat the cream with the honey to just below boiling (bubbles appear at the edges), but don't let it boil.
- Pour the hot cream over the chocolate, wait a minute, then stir from the centre in circular motions until the mixture is smooth and glossy. Finally, stir in the soft butter - that's what gives the velvety shine.
- Pour the ganache onto the cooled base and gently level it. Tap the tin on the worktop to release any air bubbles.
- Let it set at room temperature, then chill for at least 3 hours, until the ganache has firmed up. Before serving, take it out for 15 minutes so the chocolate flavour can fully develop.
Tip
Serve the tart with a little flaky sea salt on top, or with fresh raspberries - the fruit's acidity contrasts beautifully with the depth of the semisweet chocolate. For a mirror finish, don't chill the ganache too quickly: cooling it too sharply will dull the surface.
