This bittersweet dark chocolate mocha tart is rich in flavour and texture and perfectly contrasts with the buttery French pastry used in the tart. I first came across this unique way to make French butter pastry from JJ at 84th and 3rd, who discovered the technique from David Leibovitz.
It involves heating the butter, oil, water and seasonings in a bowl in the oven (what?!) and then stirring the flour into this bubbling, golden brown mixture. It throws the traditional pastry method of combing chilled butter and flour out the window and I know I will be making this pastry recipe over and over again!
For the filling I wanted something decadently rich but not too sweet. I added instant espresso powder to the chocolate ganache to make it mocha flavoured and it was a huge hit when I bought it to dinner! We served it with ice-cream but you can eat it on its own, with cream, or some berries would be delicious too.
Ingredients
French Butter Pastry
- 90 g unsalted butter cut into pieces
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 150 g plain flour
Dark Chocolate Mocha Filling
- 170 g dark chocolate I used Lindt 70%
- 1 tbsp honey
- 3 tsp instant espresso
- 1/2 cup thickened cream
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 210º C.
- Combine the butter, oil, water, sugar, and salt in a medium-sized ovenproof bowl - I used a Pyrex bowl.
- Put the bowl in the oven for around 15 minutes, or until the butter starts to brown just around the edges and is bubbling.
- Carefully remove the bowl from oven, keep your over mitts on as it will be VERY hot. Quickly stir in the flour until it pulls away from the sides of the bowl and forms a ball.
- Dump the dough into a 9-inch/23 cm tart tin with a removable base and start spreading it out with a spatula.
- Allow the dough to cool enough so you can handle it and spread it out evenly across the base and up the sides. Use a fork to gently press the dough against the sides to reinforce it.
- Keep a small piece of dough aside for patching any cracks.
- Prick the dough all over with a fork, then bake in the oven for 15 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool completely before filling with the chocolate mocha ganache.
Dark Chocolate Mocha Filling
- Combine chopped dark chocolate, honey and instant espresso powder in a medium bowl.
- In a small saucepan bring the cream to a simmer. Pour the cream over the chocolate and stir until the chocolate has melted.
- Add the butter and vanilla extract to the chocolate and stir until the mixture is very smooth.
- Pour the chocolate ganache into the cooled tart shell.
- Put the tart in the fridge and allow to set for at least 2 hours.
- Serve at room temperature with icecream.
Bon appétit!
10 Comments
Yay, the pastry is brilliant isn’t it! Your tart sounds brilliantly decadent too :)
Thank you so much for introducing me to this technique! It’s so weird and awesome!
This looks so lovely!! Definitely worth baking :)
Thank you Tina, it’s very easy and VERY delicious :)
this pastry idea sounds amazing, not a fan of kneading butter and getting it all over my hands. defs going to try this mocha tart!
Absolutely, such an easier method! I am going to use this technique lots I think
Love this! Once I’ve polished off the Passionfruit Slice, I am going to give this a try!
Oh yay Katie, I hope you enjoy it!
Wow! This sounds like a much easier way to make pastry and I never would have thought to do it that way! I love the addition of the coffee to the chocolate ganache too, brilliant idea :)
Thanks Christine, the technique is great and the filling is absolutely delicious!