These decadent Chocolate Ganache Tartlets are the perfect sweet treat for a party, birthday, Holiday dessert table or afternoon tea. It combines a buttery Cacao Shortcrust Pastry and an intense Dark Chocolate Ganache Filling to create a simple yet delicious bite-size dessert!
200ml (3/4 cup + 1 tablesp.)Heavy / Thickened Cream
Instructions
Chocolate Tart Pastry
Place the Flour, Cacao Powder and Icing Sugar in the bowl of your food processor and pulse to combine and remove any lumps (see note 1 if making by hands).
Add the very cold Butter, cut into small cubes and pulse until you get a fine crumbs consistency. Add the whisked Egg and pulse to combine until a sticky dough starts to come together. If you press the crumbs together, they should stick.
Bring the pastry together into a disk and place between two sheets of baking paper (see note 2) and roll into a large circle about 3mm (1/8 inch) thick. Place in the fridge to rest for at least 1 hour, or up to 24 hours.
Remove the baking paper and cut out rounds of pastry using a round or fluted cookie cutter (see note 3). Gently slide the pastries into the muffin pan openings, lightly pressing the edge between the bottom and the sides to remove any air bubbles. Prick the bottom with a fork and place back in the fridge to rest for at least 1 hour, or up to 24 hours.
Preheat your oven on 160'C/325'F and place the muffin pan in the freezer in the meantime.
Line each tartlet shell with a small piece of crunched up baking paper and cover with baking beads, dry beans or rice. Bake for 15 minutes, remove the baking weights and baking paper, then bake for an additional 15 minutes or until fully baked. Leave to cool down completely
Chocolate Ganache Filling
Finely chop the Cooking Chocolate and place it in a large heat-proof mixing bowl.
Heat up the Cream in a small pot until it starts to simmer. Pour half of the hot cream over the chopped Chocolate and leave for 2 to 3 minutes without touching it. Using a stiff spatula, stir in small circular movements, starting from the centre of the bowl then making your way towards the edges until combined (see note 4).
Pour the rest of the hot cream over the ganache (reheat it first if needed) and stir again in circular movement until all the chocolate has melted. You should get a smooth, fluid and shiny ganache (see note 5).
Pour straight away into the baked tartlet shells while still warm. Gently tap each tartlet on a hard surface to remove any air bubbles, then place in the fridge to set for at least 2 hours (see note 6).
Notes
General Disclaimer: I highly recommend using the measurements in grams/ml (instead of cups/spoon) for more accuracy and a better result.Yield: this recipe made 18 tartlets, but depending on the size of your muffin pan and how wide you cut out the pastry, you could be making a few less or more.Ingredients Notes:
Chocolate: always use Cooking Chocolate (and not eating chocolate) to bake with or make a ganache. Using eating chocolate would likely result in a grainy and/or split ganache as it will not melt and reset properly. I used 70% dark chocolate but you could use any of your preferred dark chocolate or even milk chocolate if preferred! There is no sugar added to the filling so play with the type of chocolate to bring a sweetness that is to your liking.
Instruction Notes:
The pastry can be made by hands and/or with a pastry blender if you do not have a food processor. You can find the detailed step by step instructions in my Chocolate Pie Curst recipe.
If the pastry seem to be a bit sticky, dust with a little bit of flour.
The wider you cut out the circles of pastry, the deeper the tartlet shells will be. It is up to you how wide you cut them out, but I recommend having the width of the muffin pan openings as a minimum. Otherwise, the crusts will be quite flat and not deep enough for a filling.
The chocolate won't be fully melted at this point - it is normal. Gently mix until all the cream has been incorporated into the chocolate.
If you still have some unmelted chunks of chocolate after adding the second half of the cream, either place the ganache in the microwave (for no longer than 30 seconds at the time, stirring well each time until fully melted) or preferably over a double boiler.
I recommend taking them out of the fridge for about 1 hour before serving them so that the ganache can come back to room temperature, which will give it the best, fudgy texture.