Description
Yolks make this chocolate pie silky smooth but with more body than a ganache. If the thought of orphaning half a dozen egg whites makes you cringe, fear not. Frozen egg whites keep well and defrost beautifully.
Scale
Ingredients
Pastry
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup salted butter, cubed
- 1/2 cup icing sugar
- 1 large egg
Filling
- 2 cups whipping cream
- 6 ounces good quality dark chocolate (65 to 70% cocoa), chopped
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 6 egg yolks*
- 1 tablespoon cocoa
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- Finishing salt (Maldon is good. I used pink Himalayan.)
Instructions
Pastry
- Place the flour on the counter. Make a well in the centre and add the butter, and icing sugar. Using your fingertips, work the ingredients together until the flour feels grainy. Make a well in the centre again and add the egg. Using your fingertips, work the egg into the flour. When the dough begins to hold together, knead it until it’s smooth and pliable.
- Form into a disk. Cover in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes. You can make the pastry up to 3 days before. Allow to warm a few minutes before rolling out.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a circle no more than 1/8-inch thick. Thinner is better. Aim for 1/16th inch if you can. Gently transfer the pastry in a non-stick 10-inch fluted tart pan with a removable base. Prick the bottom with a fork. Chill while the oven preheats.
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Line the pasty with parchment and fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake 10 minutes. Remove the parchment and weights and bake another 10 minutes. The pastry should be golden on the edges.
- Reduce the oven to 300°F and make the filling.
Filling
- In a small saucepan, over medium, heat the cream until it just reaches the boil. Remove from heat, add the chocolate and vanilla, and stir until smooth. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the yolks until smooth. Sift the cocoa and sugar into the yolks and mix until the sugar has dissolved and no longer feels grainy. Slowly, pour the chocolate cream into the yolks, stirring gently. You don’t want to create any bubbles.
- Gently pour the filling into the pastry shell. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the edges are set but the centre has a tiny bit of wiggle. *
- Cool thoroughly. Remove from pan and sprinkle lightly with finishing salt. Slice and serve.
Notes
*To make 8 4-inch tarts follow the recipe with the following changes.
– Double all pastry ingredients except the flour. Only increase flour to 1 3/4 cups.
– Line 4-inch fluted tart shells with removable bottoms with the pastry.
– Blind bake as you would the pie, reducing the baking time once the weights are removed.
– Once filled bake 10 minutes.
* Don’t waste the whites. If you can’t use them right away, freeze them in a lidded container. ” target=”_blank”]They’ll keep for up to a year! Really.