Glazed Dark Chocolate Tart, Sheer luxury on a Plate

This Glazed Dark Chocolate Tart is comfort food with a dash of luxury. A rich deeply chocolate filling encased in crisp pastry, not great for the waistline, but good for the soul. We are serving the tart with Crème fraiche to break the richness a little. Sweetened cream would be a disaster here overpowering the taste buds with sugar.

There are three crucial factors to ensure success.

A good thin pastry blind baked shell, I have opted to use my Sable pastry, you can find the recipe ‘HERE.’

Great chocolate, 70% to 75% cocoa solids with a deep flavour. This is important as the butter, sugar and eggs will serve to reduce the intensity of the chocolate flavour.

Good technique, emulsifying the cream and chocolate correctly will create a soft silky texture that just melts on the tongue. And avoiding over cooking will keep the mouth feel rich and smooth. The tart is at its best served on the day of cooking. You can keep it in the fridge overnight, but the cold will make the filling heave and dense.

My advice is not to serve this to your guests without a dry run first. It’s difficult to know how exactly how quickly it will cook in your oven until you have tested it. And what a great excuse to indulge.

You will need.

• A blind baked pastry shell 20cm x 3.5cm
• Plastic bowl large enough to take all the filling ingredients
• Medium Saucepan
• Small saucepan
• Small plastic bowl
• Heatproof spatula
• Small whisk
• Small bowl for egg wash
• Pastry brush
• Electric whisk
• Baking tray

Glazed Dark Chocolate Tart.

Serves 6

Oven temp      160˚c

1 blind baked pastry shell 22cm x 3.5cm

Egg yolk mixed with 1tbsp water

Dark Chocolate filling.

• 240g                dark chocolate 70% to 75% cocoa solids
• 2                      large eggs
• 300ml              double cream
• Pinch               table salt
• 2tbsp               golden caster sugar
• 1tsp                 vanilla essence

The Dark Chocolate Glaze.

• 90ml                double cream
• 120g                dark chocolate broken into small pieces
• 2tbsp               hot water
• 2tbsp               golden syrup

Glazed Dark Chocolate Tart – making the filling.

Pour the double cream into a saucepan and add the sugar, and salt. Put the pan onto the heat siting until the sugar has dissolved.

Break the chocolate up into small pieces and place it into the larger plastic bowl. Then break the eggs into a small bowl and add the vanilla essence. Whisk the eggs to break then down then leave them to stand while you deal with the chocolate.

When the cream comes to the simmer, pour all of it over the chocolate pieces and let stand for a minute. Then, give them a stir with a whisk mix to incorporate the two together. The contents of the bowl should come together and form a silky, glossy sauce.

When that’s ready work in the beaten eggs, again resisting the temptation of whisk. The objective is to avoid adding air into the filling and spoiling the texture of the cooked tart.

Glazed Dark Chocolate Tart – baking.

Let the blind baked shell warm in the oven on a baking tray for 3-4 minutes. Then remove it and brush in inside of it with the egg yolk mix. Coat the inside of the shell completely then return them back to the oven for 2-3 minutes. This is a chefs hack to prevent the moisture from a filling destroying the crispness of the pastry. It’s a damp proof course for pastry but don’t let the egg seep between the pastry and tart ring or it will weld the two together.

Fill the prepared shell with the chocolate filling using the back of a spoon to level off if needed.

Put the tart directly into the oven and bake for roughly 12 to 18 minutes, when they are ready there will be a slight wobble in the centre. Remove them from the oven and let them cool on the tray. The tart will finish cooking as they cool. This is quite a delicate bake as all we are trying to do is set the eggs within the filling. The chocolate will do the rest as it cools.

If you see the filling begin to rise, it’s a sign that ether the oven is too hot, or the tart has been in the oven too long. Either way, remove it from the oven and check it. You can at this point store the tart covered in the fridge. However, the texture is never the same once chilled. If time necessitates making in advance. Glaze the tart on the day of serving, and make sure it’s come up to room temperature before use.

Glazed Dark Chocolate Tart – making the glaze.

Remove the tart from the oven and allow it to cool completely. To remove the baking tin, place a bowl or tin narrower than the base of the tart. Carefully place a tart on the bowl and the outer ring should just fall away from the pastry. If it doesn’t, don’t force it but check the edges to see if it is stuck to the pastry anywhere. One the outer ring is off, keep the tart on the metal base to support it. Once that’s done, we are ready to glaze the tart.

To make the glaze, gently warm the syrup and cream together and bring to the simmer. Have the chocolate in a plastic bowl ready to hand. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate, then let the bowl stand for a minute. Take the whisk and combine the chocolate and cream together, but don’t whisk or you will get air bubbles in the glaze. Use more of a vigorous stirring action.

Pour the glaze onto the centre of the cooked tart. Then gently tilt the tart using the metal base for support to help the glaze run to the sides and cover all the filling. When the filling is completely covered in glaze leave the tart to cool once more, until the glaze is set.

Glazed Dark Chocolate Tart – serving.

Portion the tart, into six then lift onto serving plates and top each tart with a scoop of firm crème fraiche dusted with grated chocolate.

F.A.Qs

Enjoy Life!

John.

©John Webber2025