Chefs' Recipes

Chocolate tart

A perfect specimen of a dessert.

By Darren Taylor
  • 1 hr preparation
  • 55 mins cooking (plus resting, cooling)
  • Serves 10 - 12
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Sydney's Brass Bistro may be closed, but this beautiful chocolate tart by chef-owner Darren Taylor lives on.

Ingredients

  • 400 gm dark chocolate (56% cocoa solids), finely chopped
  • 260 ml pouring cream
  • 120 ml milk
  • 2 small eggs (50gm each), lightly beaten
  • For dusting: Dutch-process cocoa
  • To serve: vanilla ice-cream
Sweet pastry
  • 150 gm softened butter
  • 100 gm caster sugar
  • 250 gm (1⅔ cups) plain flour
  • 25 gm almond meal
  • 1 egg yolk
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • Seeds of ½ vanilla bean

Method

  • 1
    For sweet pastry, beat butter and sugar in an electric mixer, add flour and almond meal and stir to combine. Add egg yolk, lemon juice, vanilla seeds and 1 tbsp iced water and stir to combine. Pat into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate to rest (1 hour). Roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface to 5mm thick, line a 24cm-diameter fluted tart tin, trim edges and refrigerate to rest (30 minutes). Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180C. Blind bake tart until edges are golden (10-12 minutes), remove paper and weights, bake until base is golden (7-8 minutes) and set aside.
  • 2
    Meanwhile, place chocolate in a bowl, set aside. Bring cream and milk to the simmer in a saucepan over medium heat, add to chocolate, stand until chocolate melts (1-2 minutes), stir to combine, cool slightly, then stir in beaten egg.
  • 3
    Reduce oven to 130C. Pour chocolate mixture into tart and bake until just set with a slight wobble in centre (30-35 minutes). Set aside to cool, dust with cocoa and serve at room temperature with ice-cream.