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I have never made a tart before. So exactly what convinced me to whip up 6 individual tarts for Easter Sunday is beyond me. Maybe it was pure motivation to be a better baker, maybe it was a creative need I had to fulfill, or perhaps, it was just plain insane.
Individual tarts, or tartlets, seemed pretty advanced to me on the baking scale. I knew I had a challenge ahead of me. Lots of research to find the perfect recipe, shopping to find tartlet pans, and then of course the process of making the crust, filling, and perfecting the fruit topping and shaved chocolate. Deep breath. No pressure Courtney – there just won’t be a dessert at Easter if these bomb. Back up plan? L’s three Easter buckets filled with a stomach ache inducing amount of candy.
Ok, here’s the truth about these. Were they easy? No. Were they a bit finicky? Yes. Time consuming? Yes. Special? YES. So, you have to really think about tartlets as a commitment. Do I have a special enough holiday/event/friend to make these for? If so – go for it. They make quite a statement. And you know you love to make a statement.
Happy Easter everyone!
Recipe adapted from ‘Form V Artisan’
Ingredients for the crust:
- 1 cup flour
- 4 TBS cocoa powder
- 3 TBS sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 7 TBS very cold butter, cut into small chunks
- 1 egg, well beaten
Directions for the crust:
Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, and salt. At this point you can pour into a food processor and add the cold butter, or you can cut in the butter by hand with a pastry cutter. You want the butter to be mostly dispersed amongst the dry ingredients, with some pea sized pieces left. Add in the egg slowly while mixing until the dough becomes moist.
Form a ball quickly with your hands, wrap in saran wrap, and chill for at least two hours. Go put your feet up – you just made pastry crust!
Let the crust rest on the counter for about 20 minutes prior to rolling out. Time to get back on your feet. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Using a lightly floured surface and rolling pin, roll until about 1/8 thick. At this point you can use one 8 inch tart pan for a large tart, or I was able to get 4 individual tartlets out of the dough. Place the crust in the tart pan(s) and trim the edges. Chill in the fridge for 15 minutes, prick the tarts all over with a fork, and then bake for 8 minutes until dry yet still soft.
Ingredients for the filling:
- 6 ounces really good white chocolate
- 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
- pinch of salt
Directions for filling:
Thinly slice white chocolate and place in a heatproof glass bowl. Bring the cream and salt together to a boil in a sauce pan. Pour over the white chocolate and let stand for 2 minutes. Slowly stir the chocolate until melted. If not completely melted, place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water until smooth.
Pour the white chocolate ganache into the tart shell(s) and let set in the fridge for a few hours. Top with fresh fruit of your choice – I picked raspberries, dark chocolate shavings, and a dusting of powder sugar.
Whew – no need to dive into L’s Easter candy!
Courtney
Wow – beautiful Well done, I’m impressed! I would never attempt such a challenge..
Just gorgeous! But I hear you … a special occasion dessert
I normally don’t like fruit in my desserts. Healthy food and desserts are don’t go together in my mind. But, these were great, and rich enough that 1 small “tartlet” could feed 2 people. Of course, the raspberries were covered in powdered sugar and chocolate shavings, and I still picked a few off.