This tarte is the sort of dessert that makes me want to skip dinner altogether! Silky, robust custard in tender, flaky pastry with a hint of bitter chocolate. It’s simple, yet elegant and not too sweet. Perfect for a casual family get together or grown up dinner party!
This recipe calls for simple ingredients and a straightforward method. If you are familiar with making custard tartes, this will be a breeze! If this is your first time, this recipe is a great one to start with! Read through the process carefully so you will understand the steps and measure out all of your ingredients before starting.
Here’s what you need:
Make the pastry and let it chill.
The crust comes together in no time in a food processor. Just mix the dry ingredients together.
Add the cold, diced butter. The butter needs to be really, really cold to create light, flaky pastry. After dicing it up, put in the freezer for a couple minutes and bring it out just as you are about to add it.
Pulse until it looks like a coarse meal like this.
Add the egg and cream and pulse, pulse, pulse just enough to get the ingredients combined. The dough will still be loose. Dump it out on a lightly floured surface and bring it together with your hands quickly, shape it into a disc and wrap it up.
Pop the pastry into the fridge for an hour. This will allow the bits of butter throughout the dough to chill and firm up again. Then, once it bakes, the butter will melt and the liquid in the butter will evaporate, leaving pockets in the pastry that will make it flaky and light.
Bake the dough.
Spray a 9 inch false bottom tarte pan with cooking spray and line the bottom with a circle of parchment.
Bring the chilled dough out of the fridge and give it a couple minutes to warm up just enough to roll it.
Roll it out on a floured surface, to the diameter of the bottom of your tarte pan plus a couple more inches for the sides. I use a baking mat like this every time I make tarts or pies and I always end up with a perfectly sized crust. Order one for yourself by clicking this link.
Roll the dough around your rolling pin, using a bench scraper, then carefully unroll the dough over the tart pan. Ease it into corners and gently press it into the sides. Cut off any excess, then dock all over the bottom of the crust with the tines of a fork. This will keep your crust from puffing up while baking by allowing any steam to escape through the little holes.
Place the pan in the freezer for 15 minutes to relax the dough. This will keep it from shrinking up in the oven.
Place the tarte pan on a sheet tray and bake the pastry in a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes. Remove and turn the oven down to 350 degrees. While it’s baking, whip up your custard filling. If you want to use pie weights or baking beans while par-baking your crust, by all means do it if it gives you peace of mind.
Make the espresso custard filling.
In a large bowl, whisk the yolks, granulated sugar, salt, and vanilla and set aside.
In a medium sauce pan, combine milk, cream and espresso powder. Slowly bring it to a simmer to allow the espresso lots of time to steep and give the custard a more robust, espresso-y flavor. Once it’s just simmering, begin to drizzle the milk mixture into the egg yolk mixture while whisking. This is tempering, which is the foundation for making any custard. This technique cooks the egg yolks gently so as not to scramble them. Once you’ve got at a third of the milk mixture whisked into the egg yolks, pour the whole thing back into the sauce pan. Continue to whisk constantly as you heat custard to no more than 170 degrees.
Pour the custard through a fine mesh strainer to remove any excess bits of espresso grounds. There will still be some in your finished tart and that’s fine. This is just to remove the bulk of them.
Bake the filled tarte.
Pour the custard into the par-baked shell. Slowly ease it into the oven! The filling is still really loose and it will slosh all over the place if you are not careful. So go slow and use a baking sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 25 minutes. Check it at 20 and give it a little shake. If the filling is still pretty loose, let it go a couple minutes longer, and so on… It should be set but still appear soft when you take it out of the oven.
Allow the tarte to cool completely before cutting into it. Enjoy on its own or topped with fresh whipped cream dusted with cocoa powder or topped with some chopped chocolate covered espresso beans. Yum!
Other recipes to try:
Espresso Tarte with Chocolate Crust
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup cold butter cut into cubes
- 1 tbsp heavy cream
- 1 egg
Filling
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 tbsp ground espresso
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 8 egg yolks
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Make the Crust
- Place the flour, cocoa, powdered sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Blend for a few seconds until well combined. Add the butter and pulse until it looks like a coarse meal, then add the cream and egg. Pulse until just combined. Dump onto a lightly floured surface and use your hands to form the dough into a disc. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for an hour.
- Line the bottom of a 9 inch false bottom tarte pan with parchment. Remove the dough from the fridge and allow to sit a few minutes until its warmed up enough to roll out. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to a diameter to fit the pan plus a couple inches for the sides. Roll the dough around the rolling pin, then lift it over the pan and gently unroll it. Use your hands to gently ease the dough into the tart pan, making sure it goes tightly into the corners and up the sides. Cut off any excess. Prick the bottom of the tart dough all over with the tines of a fork. Place the pan into the freezer for 15 minutes while you preheat your oven to 375. Place the tarte pan onto a sheet tray then into the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes. Remove and turn the heat down to 350.
Filling
- Whisk together the egg yolks, granulated sugar, salt and vanilla.Pour the milk, cream and espresso into a medium saucepan and slowly bring it to a simmer.Once it reaches a simmer, slowly drizzle a third of the milk into the egg mixture while whisking. Then pour the warmed egg and milk mixture back into the saucepan and heat till just under 170 degrees, stirring constantly. Strain the custard through a fine mesh strainer to remove the espresso grounds. Pour the custard into the partially baked crust and very carefully place the tart in the oven. The filling is still very runny and can easily slosh around, so go slowly. Bake until the filling is just set, approximately 25 minutes. If it still jiggles, let it go a couple more minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before serving.