Tart Au Chocolat Class & Recipe

According to Elaine Young, head chocolatier at Cacao Fine Chocolate Melbourne, the perfect Tart Au Chocolat is a combination of a silky smooth ganache, a golden crisp short crust and a simple garnish of cocoa powder for aesthetic pleasure. Last week I took Elaine’s class in a quest to learn how to make the perfect Tart Au Chocolat hosted by Laneway Learning as part of the The Age Good Food Month, Melbourne.

Although I consider myself to be more than capable in the kitchen, pastry other than the frozen kind has never been a welcoming friend. Baking is a science of exact methods, temperatures and measurements so my ‘bit of this, bit of that’ haphazard approach does not usually translate well in the baking stakes.

Most recently, there was the apple pie crust that ate my oven – an endless smoldering cauldron of flour and butter bubbling over the edge of the baking tin turning into large wisps of smoke as it hit the bottom of the hot oven. And no, it wasn’t even Halloween but I digress…

Elaine began the class by explaining how all the ingredients come together to create the ideal ganache for the Tart Au Chocolat;

Chocolate – use real chocolate (ie not the compound variety) made with cocoa butter to get the correct ‘mouth feel’. Elaine uses 56% cocoa dark couverture chocolate.

Cream – is used as it absorbs flavours well and provides texture, smoothness, creaminess and mouth feel.

Glucose – prevents ganache from cracking and drying out as well as stops crystallisation of the sugar in the chocolate.

Butter – for firmess and stability of the ganache.

Correct order of ingredients – Pour boiled glucose and cream over chocolate to melt followed by the addition of firm room temperature butter

We then moved onto the Pate Sucrée or sugar pastry

Icing sugar – for flavour, colour and texture

Salt – for flavour

Whole Egg – Plain Flour – for structure and bindingfor structure and binding

Correct order of ingredients – Cream room temperature butter with icing sugar, followed by egg, then by flour

 

Making the Tart Au Chocolat…..

Pastry is best made a day before but ok if made on the day as long as the pastry is chilled and rested in the fridge beforehand.

Seal the tart case with a thin layer of dark melted chocolate to prevent the pastry getting soggy, then pour in ganache and set in the fridge

Dust a light coating of cocoa powder over the tart. For detailed patterns, make your own paper cut out then sprinke with white icing sugar over the top.

Now lose yourself in one intense, chocolaty bite…..

Luckily, Elaine recognises that many of us are ‘pastry challenged’ out there and runs her very own cooking classes over at Edible Journeys. In her classes you can learn how to make creative cupcakes, tarts, choux pastry, macarons, classic sweets such as marshmallow, caramels and nut brittles, as well a high tea treats for your next party. You can book Elaine’s classes here.

Elaine is also super happy to take your questions via her facebook page and also runs a ‘learn-to’ meet up group who regularly bake-off for a cause which you can find here.

Thank you Elaine for this fantastic class and generously granting me permission to reproduce your personal Tart Au Chocolat recipe below. Elaine’s final tip? STICK TO THE RECIPE Y’ALL !!

 

Pate Sucrée – 

Best prepared 1 day before assembling the tart

Makes 2 x 9 inch tart tins

Ingredients

200g      Butter, softened at room temperature

100g       Icing sugar, sifted

1/8 tsp   Salt

25g         Whole egg (room temperature)

300g      Plain flour

Method

1. Cream the butter, icing sugar and salt until light but not fluffy * do not use whisk as it adds too much air
2. Add the beaten room temperature egg and mix until just combined * cold egg will make the batter stiff
3. Add the flour into the butter mixture. At low speed run the mixer with a paddle attachment and mix until just combined
4. Gather the dough and form it into a flat disk. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour
5. Roll into 2mm thick and fit it into a tart mold. Refrigerate it for at least 2 hours or at best overnight.
6. Preheat your oven to 170C. Line the tart shell with baking paper and fill it with pie weights.
7. Reduce the oven temperature to 160C and bake for approximately 10-15 minutes until a nice golden colour is achieved.
8. Cool tart base on a wire rack.

*NB Pastry can be prepared then frozen for up to 2 months in the freezer but must be defrosted in the fridge 1 day ahead before use.

 

Chocolate Ganache 

Best prepared on the day the tart is to be assembled

Ingredients

500g      Cream

72g         Glucose

454g      Dark chocolate couverture (at least 57% cocoa content), chopped

113g       Unsalted butter, softened

Method

1. Bring the cream and glucose to a ‘rolling’ boil of 100C (212 F)
2. Pour mixture of the chopped chocolate. *Let ingredients sit for a few minutes to absorb the heat from the cream.
3. Add the flour into the butter mixture. At low speed run the mixer with a paddle attachment and mix until just combined
4. With a stick blender (or spatula), blitz the cream and chocolate mixture until its combined.
5. Add the softened butter and blitz until just combined *With a thermometer wait until mixture is 35c before blending with stick blender or 45c if blending with a spatula. 
6. Pour the ganache into a shallow container and cover it with a plastic film touching the surface. This prevents the ganache from drying out while cooling.
7. Allow the ganache to cool at room temperature.

Tart Assembly

Melt 150g dark couverture chololate and brush an even think layer on the tart base. Refrigerate until the chocolate has set. At approximately 30C, pur the ganache onto the tart shell and allow to crystalise in the refrigerator. Sieve an even layer of cocoa powder on top just before serving. Serve at room temperature for best results.