Gluten Free Dark Chocolate Tart (Tarte au Chocolate Noir)

This recipe is a chocolate lover's fantasy.  It is like a rich smooth flourless chocolate cake enveloped in a flaky chocolate shortbread crust.  Since this is a gluten free take on another classic French recipe that I learned at Le Cordon Bleu culinary school, I would recommend using a baking scale to yield the most precise baking measurements.  Your guests will be blown away by the sophisticated flavor and beautiful presentation of your gluten free dark chocolate tart.  

Recipe makes 2 tarts

Chocolate Short Pastry Crust:
1 3/4 cups (280g) Blends by Orly Sydney Blend
3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp (200g) unsalted butter
2 large egg yolks
pinch of salt
1/3 cup plus 4 tsp (50g) cocoa powder
1 cup (120g) powdered sugar

Chocolate Tart Filling:
2/3 cup (160ml) milk
1 2/3 cups (400ml) cream
14 oz (400g) dark chocolate, chopped
2 beaten eggs
 

Heat: Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 C).  Butter the inside of a 9 inch tart tin with a removable bottom to prevent the crust from sticking.

Mix: Whisk the Sydney Blend with the salt and cocoa powder in a separate bowl. Place the butter in the bowl of your electric mixer and beat until softened. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Gradually add the egg yolks, beating just until incorporated. Add the flour mixture all at once and mix just until it forms a ball. Flatten the pastry into a disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 15-30 minutes or just until firm. This will make it easier to work with.

Bake: Once the pastry has chilled, evenly pat onto the bottom and up the sides of the tart pan. Lightly prick bottom of pastry crust with the tines of a fork to prevent the dough from puffing up as it bakes. Place tart pan in the center oven rack and par-bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.  Lower the oven temperature to 300 degrees F (150 degees C).

Make Filling: Meanwhile, place the chopped chocolate in a medium sized stainless steel bowl. Heat the cream and milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil. Immediately pour the boiling cream and milk over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes or until melted. Stir until smooth. Add the beaten eggs and continue to stir quickly so until the mixture becomes thick.  Pour the chocolate filling into the par-baked crust and fill it 3/4 to the top.  Put the tart back into the oven for another 25 minutes, or until the chocolate is set.  Remove from oven to cool.  Garnish with fresh berries and dust with powdered sugar.