Big Chocolate Tart
Published Dec. 13, 2023
- Total Time
- 1 hour 35 minutes, plus cooling
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 1½ hours
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1¼cups/163 grams all-purpose flour
- ½cup/100 grams sugar
- ¼cup/28 grams unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½teaspoon coarse kosher or sea salt
- 10tablespoons/140 grams cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
- 1large egg yolk
- 1½cups/357 grams heavy cream
- ¾teaspoon coarse kosher or sea salt
- 12ounces/336 grams semisweet chocolate, chopped
- 3large eggs, at room temperature
- ½cup/166 grams sweetened condensed milk
- 1teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Flaky sea salt, thinly sliced candied orange peel, thinly sliced candied ginger, chopped pistachios or freeze-dried raspberries, or a combination, for garnish (optional)
For the Crust
For the Filling
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Preparation
- Step 1
Prepare the crust: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch metal cake pan, line the bottom and sides with foil or parchment paper, and grease again.
- Step 2
In a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar, cocoa and salt until evenly combined. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles sand. Add the egg yolk and pulse until the crumbs look like very coarse sand, scraping the bowl as needed. (Or, use your fingertips or a pastry cutter to work the butter into the dry ingredients, then stir in the egg yolk with a fork.) Dump the crumbly dough into the pan, spread in an even layer and press firmly across the bottom.
- Step 3
Bake until visibly dry, about 20 minutes. When you press the top gently, it shouldn’t indent. Cool completely in the pan on a rack.
- Step 4
Prepare the filling: Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.
- Step 5
Heat the cream and salt in a large saucepan over medium, stirring occasionally, just until the cream bubbles at the edges. Turn off the heat and add the chocolate. Stir gently until smooth.
- Step 6
Add the eggs and stir until evenly blended, then stir in the condensed milk and vanilla until smooth. Pour into the cooled crust.
- Step 7
Bake until just set, 20 to 25 minutes. The very center should have the barest wiggle when you shake the pan.
- Step 8
Cool completely in the pan. When ready to serve, use the sides of the foil or parchment to slide the whole slab onto a large cutting board. Cut into squares or bars, wiping the knife between cuts for clean edges. Top with flaky salt, candied orange, candied ginger, pistachios or raspberries, or a combination.
- The tart tastes best right after cooling, but it can be refrigerated for up to 5 days, cut or uncut, in an airtight container. Before serving, microwave for 5 or 10 seconds to restore shine to the top and softness to the center.
Private Notes
Comments
This is in answer to Su. I'm a chocolatier and I'm certain this would work with 60-70% chocolate. That's what I plan to use. I would not go above that--85% chocolate would introduce too many solids and your mixture would not work. It could potentially become too stiff.
If anyone accidentally adds the whole can of condensed milk like I did, just add another egg. Came out beautifully!
How would a glass 9x13 dish change the process? Is it still feasible, do any specific adjustments need to be made?
Made this for a party, and it turned out delightful! I got a young friend to do the decorating, and that may have been the best part: raspberry powder, slivered crystallized ginger, chopped maple-glazed pecans, and toasted salted macadamia nuts in artful patterns! I made it the day before and kept it in the freezer overnight—it’s good fresh, good thawed, and good directly from the freezer (it doesn’t really freeze hard). The only modification I made was to add a dash of rum extract, which I bought for Vaughn Vreeland’s eggnog snickerdoodles over the holidays and now want to put in everything! It definitely works well here. If (when!) I make the recipe again, I’ll make a couple of changes: I’ll halve it (made for a party of twelve people, and there was still a lot remaining!) and make a different crust—this one is fairly tasteless, which isn’t the end of the world because it’s really basically there to hold the ganache/custard, but it’s also not really sturdy enough to do that job trustworthily. Maybe something more like a sugar cookie/shortbread base, or possibly an orange-scented, crunchy nut-based crust—a sort of Florentine-bar cookie vibe!
I made a gluten-free. About a half cup of almond meal, and 3/4 cup of measure for measure gf flour. following others comments, I used 2 tablespoons of sugar. I let the crust sit for 10-20 minutes before baking. I prefer longer, but that was all the time I had. It was OK but the crust was a little gritty on day one. Day two it was quite delicious. I will make this a day ahead next time. It also traveled well.
Tried this non dairy with vegan heavy whip and oat milk evaporated milk. Took 15 minutes longer to cook but it was delicious.
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