Lindt chocolate ganache tarts

The boy is not a fan of fruit desserts. At all. He would forgo crumble, tarts, pies and the rest for fruit salad, every time.   I need a bit of crumble in my life, so continue to make them regardless. Especially during winter.  But this time I thought I would make him a dessert that he would truly love. It was spot on.

These tarts are not sweet, they are 70% dark chocolate Lindt bittersweet. The punch of the chocolate was intense, but the crumbly pastry made for a lovely addition in texture to the dark ganache. We ate them with cream and vanilla ice cream.

 

I always forget how long it takes to make pastry. All that waiting and bind baking make it a full afternoon activity. Not sure how those Masterchef folk make one in under an hour!

Recipe adapted from Gourmet Traveller, July issue

Serves 4

Ingredients:

160ml pouring cream

125g dark chocolate, 70%

100g plain flour

30g pure icing sugar

1 pinch salt

60g cold butter coarsely chopped

1 egg yolk, plus eggwash for brushing

Method:

For the pâte sucrée (pastry) process flour, icing sugar and pinch salt in a food processor to combine. then add the butter and a tablespoon of iced water until the mixture is fine yet crumbly.  Add the yolk and tip onto a work surface, pressing the pastry a little. Wrap in cling film in a disc shape place in the fridge for 2 hours.

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees, then roughly divide the pastry into 4 and roll out on a floured surface. The pastry should be around 2mm thick before laying into the tart tins. Trim the edges and chill for another 30 minutes.

Blind bake for 15-20 minutes, then remove the paper and weights and brush with eggwash. Pop back in the oven another 5 minutes, until golden and crisp. Allow to cool on a wire rack.

For the ganache, bring the cream to a simmer, then add in the shards of chocolate. Stir until the mixture is even, with no specs of chocolate anywhere. Place in the fridge to cool for 30 minutes.

Place the ganache in the tart tins and cool until totally set.