Family Chefmate: Dark Chocolate Tart With Almonds

This dark chocolate tart makes a unique Italian dessert. This Italian dessert was inspired by Mario Batali's Bitter Chocolate Tart. I have changed most everything but the crust and added toasted almonds to the filling. This tart is best eaten the day you make it. We eat ours about 1/2 hour after I made it and the chocolate with still warm and gooey.

Dark Chocolate Tart with Almonds.
Serves: 8
Pre-heat oven: 400 degrees

Pastry Dough:
1 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup confectionary sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
9 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup sweet dessert wine
4-6 tablespoons cold water

Chocolate Filling:
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
7 ounces of dark-bittersweet chocolate chumks, finely chopped or dark chocolate chips
2 large eggs
1 cup toasted finely chopped almonds

Topping:
3/4 cup whipping cream
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon powdered sugar

To make the pastry dough, place the flour, salt, confectionery sugar and cinnamon in a medium size bowl and stir. Add the cold small butter pieces to the flour mixture with a pastry knife until the mixture looks like course crumbs. Slowly pour in the dessert wine and cold water until it forms a nice dough. Wrap the dough between two pieces of parchment paper and roll out the dough with a rolling pin until it is the size of your tart pan about 12". Allow to dough to cool in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Spray a 12" tart pan with cooking spray. Unwrap the dough and line the tart pan with the dough and trim any excess dough from the pan. (I made two small tarts with the extra dough I had left over). Prick the dough with a fork and place into a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Allow tart dough to cool.

Making the Chocolate Filling: In a medium saucepan on medium high heat bring the cream to a low simmer. Remove the cream from the heat and add the chocolate chips or chunks of dark chocolate until they are fully melted. Transfer the chocolate cream mixture to a bowl and allow to cool for 20 minutes. In a small bowl beat the eggs and vanilla with a whisk and then add them slowly to the chocolate mixture. Pour the mixture into the tart crust and bake the tart on a lined cookie sheet for 15 minutes at 375 degrees. The chocolate will still be loose in the middle of the tart when you take it out of the oven. Cool the tart for 20 minutes then remove the tart sides and allow the tart to finish cooling.

Using a kitchen aid with a whisk attachment or hand mixture add the whip cream to a medium bowl and beat the cream on high until it starts to become cream. On low add the powder sugar and vanilla to the cream. Then turn the beater on high again and whip the cream until thick. Add a small teaspoon of whip cream to each piece of chocolate tart. Refrigerate any whip cream that you did not use.

Cutting the Dough with the Pastry Knife