80’s for dessert with ‘Tarte Fine au Chocolat from The Book of Chocolate (Flammarion, 2004)…
Tarte fine au chocolat
This chocolate pie with an ultra-thin crust is a French specialty that first became popular during the 1980s. The crust is a classic pâte brisée, and the thinner it is the better. The recipe calls for removing the lightly cooked crust from the pan before filling, but this is a very delicate operation and the pie will be just as delicious served from the pan.
Ingredients
For 6 servings
For the pâte brisée:
1 cup (200g) all purpose-flour
½ cup (100g) sweet butter, softened
2 egg yolks
Pinch of salt
3 tablespoons cold water
For the chocolate filling:
9 oz. (250g) bittersweet chocolate
⅔ cup (150g) light cream
½ vanilla bean
2 egg yolks
2 ½ tablespoons (30g) sweet butter, softened
To make the pâte brisée:
Sift the flour and the salt into a mixing bowl, making a well in the center. Place the cold water, the egg yolks, and the butter in small pieces, into the well and knead gently until the dough becomes workable. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and, using the palm of the hand, push the dough away from you to blend the ingredients thoroughly. Gather the dough into a ball, wrap in a damp cloth or plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least an hour.
Heat the oven to 390⁰F (200⁰C).
Unwrap the chilled dough and roll it out to a thickness of ⅛ inch (3mm) on a floured work surface. Place the dough into a buttered pie or tart pan and pat it well into place. Prick the bottom with a fork. Line the pan with foil or wax paper, fill with dry beans to weight it down, and bake until the crust starts to color, about 10 minutes. Remove the lining and the beans and bake for about 5 minutes more, or until the crust turns a light golden brown; the crust should be lightly cooked. Remove from the oven and let cool. Carefully remove the crust, which will be very fragile, from the pan and place it on a rack.
Break the chocolate into small pieces and place in a large, heat-resistant mixing bowl.
Heat the cream with the vanilla bean, to split lengthwise. When the cream begins to boil, remove the vanilla bean and pour the cream over the chocolate. Stir well, until the chocolate melts and the mixture is well blended and smooth. Add the egg yolks and the softened butter and mix well.
Pour the still-warm filling into the lightly cooked pie crust and cool completely before serving.
More than a cookbook, ‘The Book of Chocolate’ covers everything from Cacao Plantations to History of Chocolate and Great Names of Chocolate and concludes with The Taste of Chocolate chapter where this recipe can be found.
Any chocolate lover will want The Book of Chocolate on their coffee table…and it retails around $18…
(* Reproduced with permission from The Book of Chocolate’ Flammarion, 2004…Revised and updated edition – October 2015…Originally published in France as ‘Le Livre du Chocolat’ in 1995)