Friday, February 11, 2011

Chocolate Truffle Tarts


If you've been reading my blog for a while, you may remember the anniversary dinner  that I posted last May.  I have shared most of the recipes by now, but I have been saving this one for Valentine's Day.  Whenever I want to make a special dessert, my mind always goes to chocolate first.  And these tarts are definitely chocolately - a chocolate shortbread crust, filled with chocolate truffle filling, and topped with rich chocolate ganache.  If that doesn't scream Valentine's Day then I don't know what does.

For a dessert with multiple components, these actually come together pretty easily.  The dough is a snap to make in the food processor - the most time consuming step is pressing it into the individual tart pans.  The truffle filling and ganache are also quite simple.  And what makes this an even more ideal dessert is that they are assembled ahead of time and then chilled until ready to serve.  I just took them out about 20 minutes before we ate dessert to take some of the chill off, and they were perfect.

I had quite a bit of leftover ganache, so I used it to make chocolate covered strawberries - which I thought were super cute perched atop each tart.  Just a fun, festive touch.  Happy Valentine's Day!



Chocolate Truffle Tarts
filling and ganache from Tartelette
shortbread crust from Baking:  From My Home to Yours


Chocolate Shorbread Tart Dough
  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 stick plus 1 Tbs (9 Tbs) cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
  • 1 egg yolk
Chocolate Truffle Filling
  • 8 oz bittersweet chocolate
  • 12 Tbs unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup strong-brewed coffee
  • 4 large eggs
Chocolate Ganache 
  • 4 oz bittersweet chocolate
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • 2 Tbs unsalted butter
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and lightly grease small tart pans with butter.

Add the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, and salt to the bowl of a food processor a pulse a few times to combine.  Scatter the pieces of butter over the dry ingredients and pulse until the butter is coarsely cut in - some will be the size of oatmeal flakes, while some will be the size of peas.

Add the egg yolk to a small measuring cup with a pourable spout, and stir to break it up.  Add the egg a little at a time, pulsing after each addition.  Once the egg is in,  process in long pulses - about 10 seconds each - until the dough, which will look granular to begin with, forms clumps and curds.  Just before you reach this stage, the sound of the machine will change, so be ready.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface, and very lightly and sparingly knead the dough just to incorporate the dry ingredients.  Press the dough into the tart pans, and chill for 30 minutues to 1 hour before baking.

Bake the dough 10-20 minutes, until the dough is firm and crisp. Remove the tarts from the oven and decrease the temperature to 350 degrees.


For the filling, chop the chocolate into small pieces.  Place in a medium bowl and set aside.  Combine the sugar, coffee, and butter in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.  Pour over the chocolate and leave undisturbed, for 2-3 minutes.  Whisk until smooth, then add the eggs, one a time, stirring well after each addition.  Divide the filling evenly among the tart shells, and bake 10 minutes.  Allow to cool completely.


For the ganache, chop the chocolate and place in a medium bowl.  Heat the cream over medium heat until gently boiling, and pour over chocolate.  Allow to sit undisturbed for 2-3 minutes, then whisk until smooth.  Add the butter and whisk to incorporate.  Divide evenly among the tarts and smooth the tops with an offset spatula.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.


13 comments:

katie said...

Gorgeous tarts! Triple chocolate is always the way to go.

Lindsey said...

What a unique twist on typical Valentine's Day desserts! So pretty!

Kim said...

Wow. Those look amazing. Great picture!

ashley said...

these look amazing!!

Anonymous said...

How many tarts did this recipe make,using what size tart pan? Yours look absolutely perfect, but there's only two of us. Looks like the recipe could easily be divided.

Josie said...

Anonymous,
It makes 8 tarts in the small tart pans (I'm not sure how much they hold exactly). And yes, the recipe can easily be divided. I halved it when I made it, and gave the extras to a friend. I hope you enjoy!

Sara said...

These look so fabulous! I love individual tarts - they're so fun!

Eliana said...

Oh man - and these tarts look sinfully delicious.

Annie said...

Yum x 1,000,000. I need this right now!

Anonymous said...

I made these for my chocoholic sweetheart and he loved them! Thank you

Coolbreeze said...

My granddaughter is having a choir concert, and they are having an auction of sweets for the choir boosters, on Feb. 13, 2012. I would love to make these to donate, but am trying to think of a unique way to merchandise them for the auction. Maybe in a plain white oblong platter?

Coolbreeze said...

I made the tarts and they were very good, but was wondering if you thought they would be good using semi-sweet chocolate? Was just a little to strong for my taste. Would like your opinion

Josie said...

Coolbreeze,
They will definitely be a little sweeter, so if that's what you want, then I think semi-sweet chocolate would be fine. I would probably decrease the sugar just a bit though. :)

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