Dark chocolate tart with Maldon salt flakes

• 90 minutes to prepare • 35 minutes to cook • Serves 10

It is important to replenish electrolytes

 

There’s nothing more satisfying than a bite of some chocolate after a Christmas holiday meal, so this week we’ll be sharing a delicious chocolate recipe!
With fudgy dark chocolate and flaky sea salt, this recipe is a party, disguised as a dessert.

It is one of my all-time favorite tart recipes. I mean it, this tart is...oh my gosh.
Chocolate shortbread crust + chocolate ganache + fleur de sel. That all adds up to one heck of a dessert!
I’ve been crazy about the combination of chocolate and sea salt since a colleague of mine donated me a Maldon salted chocolate bar to "replenish my electrolytes", after a long run training. Ha-ha!
The salt is flaked and provides little bits of crunch when you bite into the bar. I have immediately become a little obsessed with it, then a few weeks ago, I decided to use the combination of super dark chocolate with sea salt in a tart. I knew it would be a big hit.

Who doesn’t love dark rich chocolate? It makes the perfect end to a dinner with its show-stopper good looks. Serve this with a some softly whipped cream or a scoop or two of vanilla-bean ice cream and a short espresso. It’s magical!

Here are ingredients for a 10-serving recipe (24-cm diameter baking pan):

 

For the pastry

200 g flour 00
125 g sugar
125 g butter
40 g cocoa powder
1 egg
1/2 sachet vanilla baking powder
salt

For the stuffing

3 egg yolks
1 vanilla bean
250 g  cow milk 
50 g sugar
25 g potato starch
250 g fresh milk cream
350 g chopped dark chocolate with bursts of cocoa beans
12 g Maldon salt flakes

1. Start preparing the pastry: cut the butter into cubes and place it in a bowl. Add sugar, a pinch of salt and knead it quickly
2. Stir in the egg, then mix again. Finally add flour, cocoa powder and vanilla baking powder, all sifted. Knead it again
3. Form a ball, wrap it with plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour
4. When we are close to the the 1-hour resting time of the pastry, preheat oven to 180°C
5. Move on to the filling preparation: pour the milk into a saucepan with the vanilla pod engraved lengthwise and bring to a boil
6. Meanwhile, beat eggs with sugar until stiff for about 15 minutes
7. Incorporate sifted potato starch to the mixture. Whisk well
8. Pour everything into the saucepan with the hot milk. Let the custard to thicken over medium heat, stirring constantly to avoid lumps
9. Pour the custard into a bowl and sprinkle with granulated sugar to prevent skin from forming over the surface. Let it cool down
10. Grease and dust the baking pan with cocoa powder, then cover bottom and sides with half of the pastry cut into a flattened disc-shape, about 5 mm thick
11. Start preparing the chocolate ganache: pour the milk cream into a small saucepan and place it over medium-low heat for a few minutes. Keep an eye on the cream — it's not necessary to boil it. It just needs to get hot: the cream is ready when you can place a finger in the cream and keep it there for 3 to 4 seconds. Turn off the flame and remove the cream from the stove
12. Scoop the chopped dark chocolate into the cream. Stir gently to distribute the chocolate through the cream and let it sit for a few minutes to give the chocolate time to soften and melt
13. Stir the mixture with a wooden spoon, stir and let it cool down. Then, add the Maldon salt and stir again. Finally, mix well the chocolate ganache with the custard
14. Pour the chocolate custard into the pastry pan and level well
15. Bake the cake at 180° for 35 minutes. (Do not open the oven for at least the first half of the baking time and perform the toothpick test at the end, to be sure baking is done)

Nutrition Facts are detailed in the table below. Data is provided per serving.

I'm on diet.
I'm on diet.
I'm on diet.
I'm on diet.
OMG chocolate
Yum!