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chocolate tart

People are often fascinated by what, and how I eat. They think that if you’re a baker, you spend all your time eating pastries. Which is like thinking that bartenders spend all their time drinking.

tart shell for chocolate tart recipe

My not-so-secret strategy is that whenever I eat something, I want it to be the best of its genre. I don’t want or need a ton of cream or whatever; when I want a chocolate chip cookie, I want a really, really good chocolate chip cookie. If I eat a scoop of chocolate ice cream, it shouldn’t taste vaguely of chocolate. I want it to be full-on chocolate.

chocolate tart chocolate for chocolate tart

And when I eat chocolate tart, I just want the rich flavor of chocolate set atop a buttery shell. You can skip all the fanfare. A good chocolate tart doesn’t need to be fancy, but it needs to be deep, dark, and yes, somewhat decadent. I just put together a quick pâte brisée using a cup of flour (140g), a generous pinch of sugar, and a bit of salt. I rubbed in about 3 ounces (90g) butter until it was in little pieces, that added just enough ice water until it came together. (If you want a more specific recipe, try the excellent French tart dough.) I left the dough to rest a bit, then rolled it out and pre-baked it with beans that I keep on hand for baking tart doughs. Once baked, in went the filling.

caramel for chocolate tartcaramel for chocolate tart
pie weights chocolate tart blogchocolate tart

This tart is a great combination of silky-smooth chocolate with a dense bite. The caramel gives it a chewy texture and the unsweetened chocolate counterbalances any sweetness. I add coffee since I like the extra jolt of flavor, but you can omit it, or perhaps play around with other flavors that you like with chocolate. I think orange juice, black tea, or even just ratcheting up the liquor (use some in place of some of the liquid) would give it a nice kick.

chocolate tart chocolate tart

I served it plain, without whipped cream and without ice cream, just as is. French people are usually pretty good at telling you what they think – sometimes with brutal honestly – and I served it for dessert the other night and no one had anything but raves for this one. In fact, the best accolades it got was that it was even better the next day, for breakfast. Although I’ll admit, those were from me.

Chocolate Tart

Unsweetened chocolate is often labeled as 99% or 100% cacao, or bitter (as opposed to bittersweet) chocolate and it’s easy to find at any supermarket in America. In France, it’s called pâte de cacao. (In Paris, you can find it at G. Detou, in bulk.) If it’s not possible to find it where you live, you could likely get away with just using 6 ounces (170 g) of the darkest bittersweet chocolate you can find. For those new to making caramel, you can check out my post How to Make the Perfect Caramel, as well as 10 Tips for Making Caramel, to help you out and to advise with any precautions.
  • 1 1/4 cup (250g) sugar
  • 6 tablespoons (90ml) warm coffee
  • 4 ounces (115g) unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature
  • pinch of sea salt
  • 4 ounces (115g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
  • 2 ounces (55g) unsweetened chocolate, chopped
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/4 cup (35g) flour
  • 1 tablespoon dark rum or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • cm One 9- or 10-inch prebaked tart shell, 23– 25 cm, such as French tart dough
  • Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC.)
  • Spread the sugar in an even layer in the bottom of a large, heavy-duty saucepan or Dutch oven. Cook the sugar over moderate heat until the edges liquefy and being to caramelize. Use a heatproof utensil to gently drag the liquefied sugar toward the center of the pan, encouraging the sugar to melt evenly.
  • Once the sugar is melted, it was caramelize rather quickly. When it starts to smoke, but before it burns, turn off the heat and stir in the coffee. (The mixture will bubble and seize a bit. Be sure to avert your face and you may wish to wear oven mitts.)
  • If the caramel has seized up in places, stir it gently over low heat until smooth. Then add the butter and salt, and stir until melted, then stir in both chocolates until smooth*.
  • Mix in the eggs, then the flour. Stir in the rum or vanilla extract.
  • Pour the mixture into the pre-baked tart shell, then bake for 15 to 20 minutes, just until the filling starts to rise and crack at the edges but the center is still jiggly. Do not overbake.
  • Remove from oven and let cool completely before slicing.

Notes

Storage: Tart will keep for up to three days at room temperature, well-wrapped.
Troubleshooting: If any bits of caramel remain after adding the butter, simply stir the mixture over very low heat until they’re all completely dissolved. If any stubborn little bits remain, you can strain the buttery caramel through a mesh sieve, before adding the chocolate.
*One reader noted that they felt the mixture was too hot to add the eggs right after the chocolate, but I didn’t have any trouble. If you wish, you may let the mixture cool down a bit before adding the eggs.

chocolate tart

Related Posts and Links

Chocolate FAQs

French Tart Dough

Making Tarte au chocolat (Wanderlusting Expat Video)

Baking Ingredients and Substitutions

Chocolate Caramel Tart (Lottie + Doof)

Caramelized White Chocolate Cakes

Sweet Tart Shell (Smitten Kitchen)

Chocolate Ice Cream

Chocolate Raspberry Tart (Dianasaur Dishes)

Bittersweet Chocolate Tart (101Cookbooks)

The Best Chocolate Sauce Recipe

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109 comments

    • ALIMENTA

    Wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

    • Stacy

    Good on you, as the Aussies would say, for serving it just as it is. Good dark chocolate needs no embellishing cream or ice cream. Can’t wait to try this one!

    • Natashia@foodonpaper

    Looks perfect! The simpler the recipe, always the better it tastes. Thanks for sharing this!

    • Rianne

    A slice of chocolate tart for breakfast sounds amazing! I like the way you think David :-)

    • pRiyA

    After you showed all those delicious posts about food, I was waiting for a recipe, and this THIS is like you read my mind!!!! : ) Thank you.

    • Karen Brown

    Hi David, I’m with you. Skip the cream and ice cream, although I wouldn’t object to a handful of raspberries. That tart looks divine. Just a tip on baking a blind bake shell that was passed on to me by a pastry chef; for years I’ve used ceramic beads to weigh the shell as they conduct heat, but are a pain to get out of the shell when they’re hot. He used a length of metal chain, just cheap stuff, but really easy to coil into the pan right into the edges. I tried it ( I actually used a metal dog lead!) and the damn ceramic beads are in the bin. Cheers from the edge of the map, Karen

    • Karen Brown

    Oh, one more thought. While chocolate tart for breakfast sounds interesting, I would argue that trifle, from the night before, is the breakfast of the Gods. Cheers, Karen

    • Bunny

    Hey David- What tart pan were you using? It’s so pretty!
    I thought it was a ring but it’s so shallow, like a tart pan- but it has straight sides!

    And that tart looks delish. Very truffle-esque.

    • angela

    That looks amazing and I’m not even a big dessert or chocolate lover, but I know that that is good, will have to try and make it sometime soon!

    • Kim

    This chocolate tart looks pretty perfect to me! I tried the french tart dough and it’s quite something. This filling, with the caramel base and the coffee males me want to be sunday, the day I bake!

    • everyday-vegetarian-recipes

    Ok, that looks quite amazing. Was there none left for lunch? I will attempt to force myself to wait for the weekend before trying this. Thanks David. I know already that I am going to love it.

    • Wild Dingo

    ya know? the older i get the more i am like that with food too, and it is a surprising excellent way to NOT gain weight. I won’t waste my time on processed or store bought stuff. though i keep a supply of lindt dark chocolate in the house for a quick bite now and then, i don’t eat store bought desserts. i just don’t see the point. and when i was teaching myself italian cuisine last winter (what else are you going to do in the winter in Switzerland, right?)… I was cooking my way through the book, Essentials of Italian Cooking by Hazan, I discovered how important even the smallest of flavors make to the dish. Truffles for example, just a smidge, make my risottos worth every bite over just plain risotto. the choices of wine to use in cooking and with dinner as well… the whole experience and the flavors in the mouth… the creativity and the depth of flavors justifies eating that way. the flavors can be so rich that it’s very easy to stop when you’re full. but enjoy every bite slowly. it’s how it should be. meanwhile, lately i’ve been going crazy with my Vitamix machine, doing more soups and juice drinks and having a blast with that. I sadly had to put my Italian cooking on hold because of a small health problem, but still find that the same idea essentially still holds true even with juiced and raw food! put in the right good stuff and it’s delicious! I’m putting this tart recipe in my files for when i’m ready to eat that again! It looks amazing! thank you!

    • Kristin

    This looks amazing, and I know that if your French friends approved, it must be! It’s hard to get praise for cooking from my French family-in-law, so when I do it’s the highest compliment!
    I would so eat that for breakfast right now. It has most of the important food groups in it…. ;)

    • Stephanie

    Your food philosophy is as perfect as your tart ! Most people do not believe you can eat delicious things and stay slender, but you have just divulged the secret :)

    • David
    David Lebovitz

    Bunny: It’s a tart ring and I like them because of the straight sides. But that are harder to find for some people and you need to have a relatively flat baking sheet. They sell them at professional places like Bridge Kitchenware (they’re called tart or flan rings) and on Amazon.

    Kristin: Luckily I have amazing in-laws who are always appreciative of good food – whew!

    Stephanie: I always think it’s funny that people think there is some ‘secret’ – and I know there’s practically a whole industry built around this notion that the French are just naturally thin, no matter what they eat. And while that’s certainly changing, traditionally, they didn’t snack or eat junk food, but stuck to a more wholesome diet.

    • Melanie Heavenly

    My sort of dessert not too sweet. I’m imagining enjoying this tart with a perfect Italian cuppacino.

    Sorry if this is stupid question but what do you mean by unsweetened chocolate – would 70% cocoa solids do for the entire amount of chocolate? In the UK I use 70% cocoa solids for most of my chocolate baking. We don’t really have anything classed as semi-sweet/bittersweet chocolate here – I know they do in the US.

    • David
    David Lebovitz

    Melanie: That’s answered in the headnote before the recipe.

    • Kristine

    Thank you for posting this. I looked for the recipe when I used your tart dough recipe a few weeks ago with the pastry cream (both delicious) and you mentioned chocolate as a good filling. Thank you, thank you.

    • Amanda : Grace & Gusto

    Well now you’ve gone and done it; I was seriously just about to try your Chocolate Idiot Cake. Really now, what is a girl to do.

    • Juan Carlos

    Looks delicious, but I love the spork! I just bough 8 individual-sized tartlette rings for lemon tarts I made this weekend. I may use them to make individual chocolate ones. … that reminds me, I need to go jogging.

    • ParisienSalon

    How is it that I always gain weight after reading your posts?

    Have you ever tried making this with orange peel?

    • Barry Cantelo

    Hi David,
    The pastry is similar to the pastry Jacques Pepins mother used in her restaurant in Lyons. He makes this in his new kqed video “sweets for my sweet”

    Barry

    • pennys herb co.

    DAVID
    hi!!!!
    thank you so much for all these special treats!!
    we are bakers from way back.

    be well!!!!
    rainer. susan. kim

    • Sharyn Dimmick

    I share your philosophy of wanting the best of each thing I can have. I don’t usually bother with chocolate tarts, but you hit all the right notes with this one: intense chocolate and coffee and caramel. Bravo!

    • foodielady

    hi! this looks delicious. just one question… do you blind bake the french pastry recipe?

    • Rachel Willen

    Oh, this looks perfect! Just the right amount of crust and the chocolate looks intense. My husband will love this…and I’m thinking of teaching this for my Valentine’s Day classes…giving you all the credit, of course! But first I will have to make and eat it several times just to make sure it’s good! (ha ha!)

    • Eileen Anderson

    That looks wonderful!

    • la domestique

    To me, this is the perfect dessert. I’m a baker too, and it is funny how people think we just sit around eating sweets all the time. I totally agree about wanting the best when it comes to dessert. I love a little something sweet, and look for just a few bites of intense flavor…that’s all I need.

    • good enough cook

    This sounds WONDERFUL–I’ll definitely be trying it next time I need a chocolate dessert.

    A question though: is there any particular significance to the coffee being warm? I ask because a couple of my go-to recipes for desserts (one-bowl vegan chocolate cake, Rosh Hashanah honey cake…) call for coffee, and while they specify a temperature (hot for the chocolate cake, cold for the honey cake) I usually just throw in whatever is left in my drip coffeemaker at that point in the day, at whatever temperature it happens to be (hence my cognomen: good enough). It doesn’t seem to make much difference, but then my palate isn’t very refined. I’m happy to hear a reason, though, why I should be more attentive to coffee temperature in my baking (since I seem drawn to desserts that call for it!)

    And another question (which you may have answered before–if so, my apologies): why does the gastronomically-impaired US have unsweetened chocolate on every supermarket shelf, while countries with a long history of attention to excellent cooking do not? Seems like it should be the other way around. I just wondered if you had any theories or explanation.

    Thanks!

    • Amelia

    Wow, wow, wow. You’ve done it again! This is David Lebovitz week at my house; we just polished off the french apple cake you posted last fall since we have such an abundance of apples and now this. I’m swooning.

    • Alex

    Hi, David,
    Would you have any tips to prevent the sides of tart crusts from shrinking? Sometimes I blind-bake a crust in similar ring or tart pan, only to find the sides shrink down so much, it barely holds the filling. Not sure if I am overworking dough, not chilling enough, using high-fat Plugra versus regular butter?
    I heart tarts, but would love to perfectmy crusts!
    Merci, David!

    • Gwen Meyer

    I have one problem with caramel which I’m sure you’ve run into and can help with – or point me to a place I can read the answer: I live at 7300 ft. elevation. Whenever I’ve tried to make caramel, dry or wet, the water boils off so quickly (water boils at a lower temperature up here) that all I get is rock candy. Is there any way around this other than driving down the mountain?

    Love your column, and cook from it all the time. This tart recipe looks wonderful!

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      Sometimes you can add a squirt of lemon juice, cream of tartar, or a spoonful of corn syrup and that will help prevent the caramel from crystallizing.

    • Stephanie

    Alex, I used to have the same problem, but here is what I have learned from a chef friend. Chill the tart shell very well (at least 30 minutes in a cold fridge that you are not opening every 5 minutes), poke some holes in it with a fork then line with parchement paper and fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake for about 8 minutes and then keep an eye on it. After the crust edges start to brown, remove the paper and the beans/weights and let bake until the tart is golden brown like a cookie. A crunchy tart shell is soooo worth the trouble.

    • hampton

    Beans?I don’t understand-what kind of beans and what do you use them for? Do you put them in a pie crust? what is purpose of them?

    • blissing

    I’m making this as soon as possible! I am one of “those people” who will be adapting, with a grain-free crust (grain-free, have you heard about it? It’s the latest). And I will be making a caramel with maple syrup for the first time, which is a tiny bit harder because it already looks caramel colored.

    • Kierston

    Is that a circular cooling rack in the first picture or a serving tray? either way, i love the green next to the chocolate :)

    • Yvonne

    That looks so rich that you can practically tastre the chocolate in the picture. I want some now!
    Seriously, David it does look good and so clean and sophistocated on the plate.

    • Paolita@BerryHaute

    Too funny, I always eat left over dessert for breakfast……gotta live a little, right?

    • Ruth, new yorker in la spezia/vernazza

    What a breakfast!!! If I make some cinnamon toast, can I come over? ;)

    • Jill @ MadAboutMacarons

    Too funny. Me too. Think people believe I eat macarons all day, when in fact I do. No, not true. Not sure now. But it looks funny when I say I love smoked fish. That’s true, too.
    Understand on the French brutal honesty. Have had that in many years here and so bravo if you got the complete thumbs up, and served plain on top of it, too (pun intended.)

    • cassandra

    I so agree. I eat very healthy, but when I do want dessert… I want it decadent and rich. Whenever I go home to California I get a real laugh when my friends take me out for banana squish or coconut milk being pass off as ice cream or sugar, egg, dairy, gluten free cookies (being eaten by people who don’t have any food allergies). Don’t eat it too often, but make it count!

    • caryn

    Wondering about substituting port for rum. Would the port flavor be lost? What about using port instead of coffee in the caramel? Would it evaporate too quickly? Love the sound of these clean flavors, and I can’t wait to try this tart.

    • William Widmaier

    Good god that looks good. Please send a slice over ASAP!

    • Valerie

    I absolutely love chocolate – the richer the better. This chocolate tart looks and sounds absolutely divine and is calling my name. Making the caramel in this recipe is going to be a first and a challenge for me but I’m going to try it.

    Thanks for sharing.

    • Heide

    That is definately my “cup of tea”. So much better than the stinky cheese.

    • Ann P.

    This looks absolutely divine! I love the addition of the rum and how it’s flavored with caramel–I never thought of baking caramel into chocolate before. :) Wonderful recipe that I’m going to try as soon as I have an occasion! maybe my occasion will be Tuesday night TV, hehehe.

    • Tatiana

    Made it tonight! Whole foods had all the right ingredients. Recipe worked perfectly the only thing I was afraid was to scramble the eggs, but I think it worked out. My beautiful tart is cooling as we speak. Can it be stored in the fridge? Thank you so much for posting.

    • Amanda

    Beautiful! I think there is always a place in the world for another chocolate tart recipe.
    By the way, a great many bar/pub owners do have drinking problems – it comes with the territory.

    • KosherCorvid

    I make all the birthday pastries for everyone at work, and the most frustrating request someone can make for that is, “I dunno, everything you make is good.” I managed to press the next victim into saying he wanted “chocolate something. But it needs to be really chocolate-y, not just a regular chocolate cake.” I think this will be just perfect with the remains of that bar of baking chocolate in the cupboard.

    • KosherCorvid

    Gwen– After living at 7,000 feet for four years: you must use at least a bit of corn syrup, and use a slightly lower temperature on your stove. Let the sugar melt slowly and stir it gently as it melts. A few grainy bits may remain, but it’s possible to get a good rich caramel at altitude.It’s not nearly as easy in the mountains as here at sea level, but if you’re patient with it it’ll work out.

    • Spiffypaws

    My birthday is next week, and I now know what I’ll be having for desert!!!!!!

    • betty

    That is so true! people always think that chefs are fat and that they spend the whole day eating, I wish everyone could see that it is not true

    • renee

    sweet baby jesus. this is chocolate tart heaven!

    • wendy chin

    Have you ever tried using a walnut crust with this recipe? I use this for pumpkin (actually it’s butternut squash) pie, and it’s a nice combo.

    • Phuoc’n Delicious

    My mouth is salivating looking at this tart.. And now you’ve got me craving chocolate

    • Mathilde

    Just read your advice to bloggers after finding it via a link in the Guardian, agreed with much of it so was disappointed to see that you ignore your own advice and make readers click for full posts!

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      I don’t advise people to publish full posts because content ‘scraper’ sites take your feed and republish all your content elsewhere, which is an unfortunate consequence of publishing online. So I recommend people publish a partial feed for that reason. What I was referring to in the article you mentioned were sites where readers are directed to click multiple times, but which don’t lead directly to the content readers are requesting to read. When I put a link on the site to another recipe, it leads right to the recipe or the recipe on the other site or blog where I am linking to (since I like to link to other posts readers might be interested in, with similar topics) , as I did at the end of this post.

      Another is that on my site, for example, each post can have up to ten or more photos, which take a while to upload when people come to the site. So since I have five or so posts on my main page, if people had to wait for the whole page with up to fifty (or more) photos to download before they could read it, it would take a considerable amount of time for readers. (Depending on the speed of your connection.)

    • Allison

    This one literally stopped me cold. I’m planning on making it (and possibly sharing it with family, if they’re very, very good) this weekend. I have a quick question, please excuse me if you’ve covered it elsewhere on your site – Can I prepare and pre-bake the tart shell ahead of time? If so, is it best to refrigerate, freeze or keep it at room temperature until I use it? Thank you.

    If you’re going to use it within one day, it’s okay to leave it out at room temperature. But if you want to make the tart shell in advance, best to freeze it. -dl

    • Christina

    Perfect recipe, especially with the caramel! Re pastry weights, etc., I have always used Lindsey Shere’s recipe (Chez Panisse Desserts) of 1 cup flour to 4 oz. good sweet butter, salt, 1 Tbs. sugar; I process this in a food processor until it is just about coming together, but still has small lumps of butter . I then put the crust into the tart shell by hand making the thickness very even and as thin as possible. This is no more trouble than rolling out and dealing with beans and when your have to make multiples of these, much more expedient. I cool it in the fridge overnight, if possible, or at least four hours, and then pop it into a 425 oven and bake until done – there is an absolute minimum of shrinkage and no collapsing. A quarter cup of nuts can be substituted for part of the flour or Parmesan cheese and herbs or other flavourings for a savoury tart. Thanks again for your lovely recipe” CMI

    • Olga

    Looks wonderful. Chocolate and caramel: two favorite things in the same dish. Need. Quick question though: there’s no mention of cooling anything down before adding the eggs. I assume the caramel is superhot (at least last time I splashed myself with liquid caramel I got that impression…). Do the butter & chocolate cool it down enough so I can then add the eggs safely, or will I (yuck!) end up with boiled egg?

    • Dryflour

    David! I need your help. I am contending with an established baker in my town for outdoing her insanely decadent brownies. I skimmed through (okay pierced with my x-ray vision secrect ingredient vision goggles) her ingredients list and nowhere was BUTTER listed but rather CREAM. Have you ever in all your fine pastry days seen a brownie recipe with cream in lieu of butter? I think it’s pure evil genius and yet can’t find a single recipe on the webs.
    Dryflour, from the Puget Sound, Washington, USA

    • chris herlehy

    Wow this is good. I just finished a piece 10min ago with my wife and we both had to eat another piece after the first. I only had milk chocolate and valrhonna 71% chocolate on hand so I used the milk for the 4oz and the dark for the 2oz. I used the ‘french tart dough’ that you posted earlier for it and it was also great. I couldn’t stop myself from topping it with creme chantilly.

    What i love the most, is that it doesn’t take too long to make the dough, tart and cream, yet it tastes so good.

    Thanks David, I love your recipes and books!

    • An Nguyen

    I made this tart today using all bittersweet chocolate (since that was all I had on hand) and it was amazing! I love love love the deeply chocolate flavor booted with coffee, rum, and caramel. Normally I’m not big on chocolate and I went back for a second slice! Thank you for a great recipe. I also took a photo, posted on my flickr (it is also a very handsome tart, I must say!):
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/mybean/6262103977/in/photostream

    • Christine

    Looks wonderful. Get in my belly. :-)

    • Alyce Morgan

    The only real dessert I’ve ever eaten for breakfast is my own (and it’s my favorite) pumpkin pie. You can almost see it. But this might change my mind.

    • Charis

    That looks beautiful David. I want a slice :(

    • David
    David Lebovitz

    Dryflour: I haven’t made a brownie recipe with cream, and no butter. But it sounds like something worth experimenting with if it yields a great brownie!

    An: That looks great, and nice to see even a non-chocolate lover dove right in and did such a great job with this tart.

    Christina: I’ve used (of course) that recipe as well, although it can be a little tricky to make sure that it stays in place. But when you get it right, you’re correct – it is a great tart dough.

    Olga: When you add the butter & chocolate, it decreases the temperature dramatically. And you never want to have chocolate get too hot, or it’ll burn. If in doubt, use your intuition and wait a bit before adding the eggs, if you think the mixture is too hot. But I added then as indicated with no problem.

    • parisbreakfast

    Dangerous stuff. Like Paris isn’t already full of landmines for the tastebuds…
    I have yet to taste on of these. Now it’s a must. Who needs lemon meringue tarte anyway..
    merci carolg

    • JJ

    Thanks for the recipe David!
    It makes me want to try and cook Fall-related cakes even here in Cairo :)

    • Mel

    Totally on board with the all or nothing approach! I especially detest it when food can’t make up its mind about whether it’s a dessert, or a health food, or a whatever.

    I very much like the sound of your chocolate tart! MmmM!

    • Missy

    I made this recipe as immediately and it looks exactly like the pic. It tastes even better. In fact, everything I have made from your site is excellent.

    • Betty

    I just made a chocolate tart last week. I used the pecan shortbread recipe from your book as the shell and the darkest chocolate I could find for the filling. Definitely a keeper. And there’s left over cookie dough in the fridge for cookies this weekend! Maybe I’ll dip them in chocolate too.

    Thanks for all the great recipes and the inspiration!

    • paula

    Looks fantastic but I need a dollop of whipped cream on mine please.

    Dryflour, perhaps she is making her own butter or just listing the butter ingredients – butter is made from cream, right?

    • The Starving Student

    I’m glad you omitted the whipped cream and/or ice cream. The chocolate speaks for itself! As for a breakfast treat, I could eat this for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

    • Gwen Meyer

    Hampton, any kind of beans will do! You’re not going to eat them, in fact I have a large baggie with beans for that purpose.. Just be sure they are spread over parchment, all the way to the edge of the tart…purpose is to support the buttery crust when the butter first melts. It will sag without support.

    • Joy

    The tart looks like it would be so difficult to make but you make it look so easy.

    • Anna

    wow. i love your travelogues and your photos and your stories. but honestly this simple tart recipe (well, relatively simple :)) blows me away even more. i love, love, love it.

    • Margie

    This is so going to happen…..that bit of coffee gives me all the more reason to try it.

    • mizarwen

    Is this just like mud pie? Hoho. The tart looks so yummy! Idk what the different btwn semisweet and unsweetened choc. Can i use dark choc and sweet choc bake instead of those?

    • amanda

    I got scrambled eggs in the chocolate when I made this, even though I was worried about it beforehand and stirred a little of the chocolate mixture into the eggs before adding them back to the rest of the chocolate mixture. Maybe I should have stirred more of the chocolate into the eggs before adding them back. But I strained it all before baking, and it was delicious!

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      That’s unusual because normally chocolate burns above 120ºF and by the time you add the butter and chocolate, the temperature should not be high enough to scramble eggs (which takes place at 158ºF) – but glad you found a solution and you enjoyed the tart.

    • Pam

    This looks fabulous! Wow. Thanks.

    • Lita

    I finally made this last night. It was my very first attempt at a sweet tart, and my 2nd tart ever.

    This dessert was simply gorgeous. The carmelized sugar really adds some unexpected wow to the texture, and the crust balances it nicely.

    I only slightly tweaked in two places, fresh brewed espresso for the coffee, and rather a bit more than a pinch of fleur de sel. I felt the extra bit of salt was a better fir for my personal tastes.

    The recipe was clearly written and easy to follow (lovely photos!), and the making of this tart was a breeze. I plan to keep it in heavy rotation.

    Thank you! LOTS of love from Texas.

    Lita

    • Martin

    After having made the caramel and added the coffee, and butter, I measured it at 240F – still way too hot. Had to cool it down quite a bit first.

    I was using a heavy-based frying pan which might have contributed, but it still seems like the recipe needs to say to cool the mixture first? (I scrambled the eggs the first time I did it too)

    • vincentia sebastian

    Hi David,
    I’ve tried it. It’s so delicious… Thanks a lot for the recipe….

    • Ambica

    Hi David, I made the tart on friday..it came out perfect.. My husband and daughter loved it..I also made the potato and leek soup and the soupe au pistou… Thankyou:))
    Ambica

    • Allison

    Made the tart last night and received rave reviews. Next time I think I’m going to try grating some orange zest into the crust. Thank you so much for a wonderful recipe!

    • Joanne

    I’ve been a regular reader of yours for a while now, but this recipe has really caught my attention. It somewhat reminds me of an espresso tart I recently tasted, so I’m eager to try it out. Thanks for sharing.

    • Cate

    yum! I made the tart for guests for dinner last night and it was delicious. The left-overs tonight were even better! Thank you!

    • Jacqui

    I totally agree with you. When it comes to desserts, I want the best! Nothing artificial or low fat. This chocolate tart looks amazing!

    • philip andelman

    great recipe! not a big coffee fan, but i had some passion fruits lying around (i was planning on making your passion fruit pound cake) and decided to squeeze in 8 tablespoons of fresh juice and omit the rum/vanilla for fear of too many competing flavors. it was AWESOME! will probably make this recipe again 2-3 times before week’s end to appease everyone around!!! thank you.

    • Run Fast Travel Slow

    Looks lovely & classic… And I couldn’t agree more about only having dessert when it’s really excellent!

    • Noga

    Hi David,

    I made this last night, following the recipe word for word. It is simply a brilliant recipe. Normally I would have filled the tart shell with a ganache or a curd, but the chewyness and substance of this recipe really gives the chocolate tarte another dimension. Thank you! It turned out flawless, and you’re right, the leftover slice for breakfast is magnificent.

    Noga

    • Rio Yeti

    Hey,

    I’m not much of a blog commenter, but I couldn’t pass this opportunity, because I made this tart yesterday and it was amazing ! I used a french “sablé” recipe for the shell, with slightly more salt than usual, and I did (sorry) a crème anglaise to go with it…

    The bitterness of the chocolate, with the slight saltiness of the shell and the mellow vanilla taste of the cream made it an all around incredibly balanced dessert.
    But the chocolate is really what made this subtle and refined, the mix of chocolate, coffee, caramel and rum made for a depth of flavor unlike any chocolate tart I’ve had…

    The only down point is that usually I like to try recipes, and then improve on them and make them my own… but this one will forever remain David’s chocolate tart, as I really don’t see any room for improvement…

    Thanks !

    • Tracy

    I love how you just threw together the dough. You made it seem effortless and attainable.

    • Martyna

    I did chocolate tart few weeks ago was very tasty now thinking about something similar with berries ;]

    • Henry

    Thanks for the recipe David! Chocolate tart is my no. 1 dessert in the galaxy! What do you think of the differences between a 1. ganache filling that involves no baking 2. cream-chocolate-egg and 3. butter-chocolate-egg filling?

    • Ameirah

    Definitely not a waste of calories :)

    Added to the to-do list…

    • Joe M in the Kitchen

    This is great and easy. A great addition – cinnamon and cayenne pepper in the chocolate. France meets Oaxaca.

    • sofia

    Hi David,
    just to say I enjoy very much your blog – recipes as well as your humor… even if I follow it for more than year, I never left a comment – just cause I’m not used to leave the comments.
    But THIS post is THE post and THIS tart is THE tart. Paule’s dough is surprising, easy to do and very good, but after all, your filling is W O W W W W !!

    And yes, I really enjoyed your statement, that “chocolate tart needs to be (…) somewhat decadent” =)
    m e r c i ! !

    • Bruce

    If one stores this chocolate tart in the refrigerator afterwards, is that bad for the tart? I ask for two reasons: 1, you don’t specify that as a storage option; 2, when I stored my in the refrigerator, sealed airtight, it turns out very very firm when subsequent helpings are served. Should it be that firm? Or am I simply in error by not storing it at room temperature. Is it normal for a chocolate tart to firm up quite a bit once stored in the cold?

    Thanks in advance for you comments. Recently made the chocolate tart de Rue Tatin from your Great Book of Chocolate as well which has been enjoyed by all.

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      I don’t store the tart in the refrigerator for that reason; I keep it at room temperature.

      Glad you liked the chocolate tart from my chocolate book, too!

    • Ornella

    Hi David!

    I tried this recipe for the first time today and, although the flavor was absolutely delicious, I couldn’t manage to get the right texture. After 20 minutes in the oven the edges weren’t quite rising enough or cracking at all, so I kept it in there for another 5ish minutes before taking it out from fear of over-baking it. I let it cool completely before slicing into it but it still hadn’t set enough. It was gooey and not nearly as firm as I can see yours is. Any thoughts? I used a ceramic tart dish and believe that might have been the issue (although the pie crust baked on time), but I just wanted to know if there was anything else I could have done wrong before I attempt it again. Thanks for the advice and all the delicious recipes!

    • David
    David Lebovitz

    Different materials do bake differently and baking times will vary depending on the vessel used. Since ceramic is a lot thicker than metal, that is likely the cause.

    • brian lawson

    Hi David,

    My wife is a quite good baker. For a family lobster feast today she decided to make your chocolate tart (I’d emailed her the recipe, w/out obvious begging). My two teen sons and I were blown away and my wife was quite thrilled as well. Wonderful, deep tastes. Thank you.

    • Schokozwerg

    Dear David,
    some weeks ago I tried your delicious almond tarte and now this one. I added some caramelized nuts and once again I removed a perfect culinary delight from oven. A veritable sunday sweet! Thanks a lot from Berlin (Germany).

    • Jen Carroll

    Haha, bartenders DO spend all their time drinking. :)

A

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