Turns out my one friend around here doesn’t really do sweets?? So we’re going bittersweet today.

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temp
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Filling:

• 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate
• 1 cup heavy cream

My mom’s favorite

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.

Beat in the salt, vanilla, and yolk.

Add the flour and beat, scraping down the bowl, until no dry patches remain.

Shape into a ball, flatten somewhat into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 4 hours, or overnight.

Roll out the chilled dough and place in a 9″ tart pan, removing any extra by running your thumb over the edge of the pan to cut off the excess. My house is about a million degrees, so the dough instantly went back to floppy and was a nightmare to roll out, but even the cookbook mentions using excess dough to patch any holes. Prick the dough all over with a fork, then freeze at least 10 minutes.

Preheat oven toe 350, then bake the crust for 15 minutes, taking it out halfway through to check if there are any bubbles forming in the crust, and pressing down on them if so before returning to the oven.  Set the crust aside to cool.

Once the crust is cool, put the bittersweet chocolate in a heat-proof bowl. Heat the cream over high heat on the stove until it just starts to boil, then pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit, undisturbed, for 30 seconds, then gently stir until the chocolate is evenly melted into the cream. Don’t stir too vigorously or you may end up with air bubbles in your chocolate.

Pour the still warm filling into the crust.

Extra little crust, what will I put in you?

Let sit at room temperature for at least an hour to set.

With my house being a million degrees, I actually moved the tart into the fridge, where it firmed up more, and then took it out at (my friend’s house’s) room temp for a while before slicing.

Chocolate Tart

From The Art of Simple Food.

 

Crust:

• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temp
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Filling:

• 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate
• 1 cup heavy cream

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the salt, vanilla, and yolk, then add the flour and beat, scraping down the bowl, until no dry patches remain. Shape into a ball, flatten somewhat into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 4 hours, or overnight.

Roll out the chilled dough and place in a 9″ tart pan, removing any extra by running your thumb over the edge of the pan to cut off the excess. Prick the dough all over with a fork, then freeze at least 10 minutes.

Preheat oven toe 350, then bake the crust for 15 minutes, taking it out halfway through to check if there are any bubbles forming in the crust, and pressing down on them if so.  Set the crust aside to cool.

Once the crust is cool, put the bittersweet chocolate in a heat-proof bowl. Heat the cream over high heat on the stove until it just starts to boil, then pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit, undisturbed, for 30 seconds, then gently stir until the chocolate is evenly melted into the cream. Don’t stir too vigorously or you may end up with air bubbles in your chocolate. Pour the still warm filling into the crust, then let sit at room temperature for at least an hour to set.