Dark Chocolate Tartlets

October 12th, 2014

I’m like a kid in a candy store whenever I’m at Sur La Table, one of my favorite places to shop for kitchen ware. I can spend hours there browsing, making every excuse as to why I need a another gadget, an extra pan, or more piping tips. And I love it when I find a good deal. That’s exactly what happened when I found these tartlet molds. I couldn’t resist and basically picked up all the molds that were on clearance.

Using a simple dough recipe I made several mini tart shells, filled with a simple dark chocolate ganache. It definitely would have been easier to just make one large tart; however, these individual, bite-sized tartlets are much more adorable. It took some patience to line each mold with the dough, but the results were worth it!

Tart Shells
2 sticks (8oz) of butter
360 g AP Flour
125 g Sugar
1 Egg
½ tsp vanilla
Pinch of Salt

Y= half the dough yields 18- 2 inch  shells

Directions:

1. Cream the butter, sugar, vanilla and salt together.
2. Add the egg.
3. Add the flour. Slightly mix.
4. Finish mixing by hand on a floured surface.
5. Divide dough in half, flatten. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 30 minutes to 1 hour.
6. Slightly spray molds with a non-stick spray.
7. Remove the dough from the refrigerator; using a rolling-pin, roll dough out.  Since the dough will puff up a bit once in the oven, roll out thinly.
8. Working in small pieces, line the molds, leaving a few unmolded.
9. Using a fork, gently poke several holes in the lined dough. Refrigerate the lined molds for 10 minutes.
10. Remove from the refrigerator; using the other half of un-lined molds stack on top of each lined mold. This prevents the dough from puffing up too much when baking.
11. Bake at 350F for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and remove the unlined molds. Place lined molds back in the oven and bake for another 6-7 minutes, or until lightly browned. Once cool enough to handle, removed baked shells from the mold.
12. Repeat with remainder of the dough.
13. Allow tart shells to cool completely before filling.
14. If not using the other half of the dough, freeze for later use. Dough can be kept in the freezer for 1 month.

Individually lined moldsBaked shells- ready to be filled

Chocolate Ganache Filling
200 g Dark Chocolate (I used 72%)
200 g Heavy Cream

Directions:

1. Finely chop chocolate and place in a heatproof bowl.
2. Heat the heavy cream on medium heat. Once the cream comes to a simmer, remove from heat.
3. Slowly pour the heated cream over the chopped chocolate and leave for 30 seconds.
4. Whisk to combine the cream and chocolate.
5. Carefully pour the ganache into each tart shell. Allow to set a room temperature for about 30 minutes to an hour.                            Garnished with chocolate shavings and fleur de sel.

Tags: Dark Chocolate, Ganache, Tartlets