Individual Chocolate Tarts
- 1 chocolate pastry dough (recipe follows)
- Butter for greasing the tart pans
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 6 tablespoons sugar
- 3/4 cup almond flour (see note)
- 1 tablespoon dark rum
- 1 large egg
- 7 ounces bittersweet chocolate, preferably Valrhona, very finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons strong brewed espresso
- 3 tablespoons light corn syrup
- 1 cup minus 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- Small pieces of gold leaf (see note)
- On a floured surface, roll out the dough to a e-inch thickness and cut out 8 5-inch circles of the dough.
- Transfer circles to a large parchment-lined cookie sheet and refrigerate until chilled.
- Ease the chilled circles into 8 individual 4-inch-wide buttered tart pans; trim the edges with a paring knife.
- Chill.
- To make the almond cream, cream the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer.
- Beat in the sugar until smooth.
- Add the almond flour, rum and egg, beating well after each addition.
- Spoon a thin layer of the almond cream in the bottom of each chilled tart.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Bake the tarts until the almond cream is lightly browned and the pastry is crisp, about 10 minutes.
- Remove the pans' outer rings and cool the tart shells.
- For the chocolate filling, combine the chocolate, espresso and corn syrup in a medium bowl.
- Place the heavy cream in a small saucepan and bring just to a boil.
- Pour the cream over the chocolate mixture and stir gently in the same direction (do not beat), until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.
- Stir in the butter until it is melted.
- Pour the mixture into a cup with a spout and fill the tarts to the rims.
- Use a knife tip to pop surface bubbles.
- Clean the knife and use it to cut out and lift fragments of gold leaf, and place one in the center of each tart.
- Let the tarts set, about 1 hour.
- Serve or store in an airtight tin up to 2 days.
chocolate pastry, butter, unsalted butter, sugar, almond flour, dark rum, egg, bittersweet chocolate, espresso, light corn syrup, heavy cream, unsalted butter, gold leaf
Taken from cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/6214 (may not work)