two yolks

The first time that I saw this recipe I just knew that I had to make it some day. It combines two of my favorite things for desserts: tarts and chocolate.

I kept forgetting about the recipe and refinding it when I ended up flipping through the cookbook. The idea of making this has been floating through my head for over a year now. I had finally decided to make it with the extra tart dough from the Meyer Lemon Tart but the dough wasn’t really workable when I removed it from the freezer so I had to discard the tart dough. However, by that point, I had already committed to making it and decided to make a fresh tart dough fo rit.

I’d like to say that it was then a transcendental experience upon eating this after such a wait, but it was merely good. It managed to be chocolately but not overwhelmingly so. The chocolate was at a good intensity and it wasn’t at all sweet. What I really noticed was that the chocolate seemed a bit dry. This is probably because I’m mostly used to chocolate desserts being sweeter than this one.

I should probably confess that we didn’t finish eating the tart.  It wasn’t possible for me to really eat a lot of the tart at once and it was too much chocolate for Angela.  It didn’t help that shortly after I made it I had to travel to the east coast for work.

I would reserve this tart for only the true chocolate lovers.

Chocolat Tarte de Rue Tatin
Adapted from The Great Book of Chocolate

1/3 cup heavy cream
16 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
4 large eggs, at room temperature
one 10″ prebaked tart shell

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
2. Warm the heavy cream in a large saucepan until the edges begin to bubble. Remove from the heat.
3. Stir the chocolate into the heavy cream until the chocolate has completely melted. Allow to cool to room temperature.
4. Whisk the eggs into the chocolate one at a time.
5. Pour the chocolate mixture into the pie crust and smooth out as much as possible.
6. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the filling is set but not too firm.
7. Allow to cool to room temperature and serve with whipped cream.

Makes 10 to 12 servings.

Pâte Sucrée
Adapted from The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion: The All-Purpose Baking Cookbook

1 1/4 cups (5 1/4 oz.) all-purpose flour
1 tsp nonfat dry milk (optional)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
8 tbsp butter, cold, cut into tablespoons
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp water

1. Combine the flour, dry milk, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Pulse several times to mix the dry ingredients.
2. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Add the egg yolk, vanilla, and water and pulse until the mixture forms a ball.
4. Remove the dough from the food processor and roll out into a round to fit the tart shell. Place the dough into the tart shell. Prick the bottom of the tart shell multiple times with a fork. Refrigerate the tart dough for at least 30 minutes.
5. Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
6. Place a layer of aluminum foil over the tart shell and place pie weights on top of the aluminum foil.
7. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the crust is set. Remove the aluminum foil and pie weights.
8. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes or until the crust is browned.

Makes one 9 to 10″ tart shell