Bittersweet Chocolate Tarts with Creme Fraiche

 

I came home in the mood to bake the other day and a lovely friend happened to come over and work as a fabulous assistant. Chatting and baking with a friend = lovely Monday.

Also lovely are these adorable tarts! They are very straight forward and you have to do a few things at the same time but with almost no risk of finding a way to screw them up! Plus they're adorable and delicious!

 

Bittersweet Chocolate Tarts with Creme Fraiche
adapted from this recipe


makes 1 9" tart or 10 3" tarts, or bunches of mini tarts in cupcake tins-adorable!

crust:
1 cup spelt flour (could use whole wheat but the spelt is a great flavor, and you can just buy a cup from grocery store bulk sections!)
1 2/3 cup flour
1 tbs sugar
3/4 tsp salt
12 tbs butter; cold
1/2 cup cold water
1 egg
2 tbs milk

1     mix flours, sugar, salt in a bowl
2     slice butter into tbs, then using pastry cutter or 2 knives cut butter into flour mixture
3     add 1/4 cup of water and using a spatula mix it in, you want the flour mixture moist
       but not soggy, just enough that it can come together in a dough- this makes for a flaky crust
4     if you need more water, you probably will need 2-3 tbs more, mix it in a tbs at a time
5     flour a surface or parchment paper and turn dough out onto it
6     gather the dough into a rectangle the width of you palm and then frissage the dough,
       frissage is using the heel of your hand the smear the dough across the surface,
       this pushes the butter into the dough
7     as you smear parts across gather the bits into a pile, once you have done all the dough
       gather it into a rectangle and frissage it again
8     separate the dough into two balls, place in bowl, cover and refrigerate for at least
       45 minutes-overnight
9     preheat the oven to 400 degrees F after when you're ready to pull the dough out again
10   pull out one dough ball and roll it so the dough is around 1/8" thick
11   for the mini tarts cut out a circle about a 4" circle and for the cupcake tarts I used
       my largest biscuit circle cutter which was about 2" and worked great
12   lightly spray olive oil spray onto cupcake or tart tins press the dough into desired
       tart tin and repeat with other ball of dough
13   place in fridge for 10-15 minutes
14   pierce the bottom of each tart a few times with the tines of a fork, lay a square of
       parchment paper in each tin and put in some pie weights or just coins to keep the
       dough from rising too much
15   bake tarts until light brown- 4" tarts 10-12 minutes, cupcake tarts 8-10 minutes
16   mix an egg and 2 tbs of milk in a small dish, remove tarts from oven and lightly brush
       each one with the mixture
17   place back in oven for 2-3 minutes
18   pull out and let cool while preparing filling

bittersweet chocolate filling:
1 cup heavy cream
9 oz bittersweet chocolate; finely chopped
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
crème fraiche, pink sea salt, cocoa nibs, edible flowers for topping

1    using a double broiler (or small saucepan filled with water and a pot in it)
      bring heavy cream to a simmer
2    remove from heat, whisk in chocolate, it should all be melted in and become a silky texture
3    whisk in egg and vanilla
4    spoon mixture into tart shells
5    bake for 7-10 minutes, until the chocolate mixture is set and doesn't
      jiggle much when you nudge it
6    remove from oven, let cool and then add on your desired toppings
the crème fraiche is a great choice because it gives a lot of depth and freshness to the flavors