Double Chocolate Tart with Cherries

This chocolate tart is very rich, decadent and super flavorful. It’s one of those desserts that you make on holidays or for a party.
By Pallavi Gupta

This dessert does require a bit of preparation but the good news is that you can break the entire recipe into 3 to 4  parts and prepare those parts on different days. The recipe is quiet flexible that way.

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I made the tart dough and the chocolate filling one day and left it in the fridge, shaped and baked the tarts on another day and stored it in an air tight container in the fridge. And the day I wanted to serve it, I just made the cherry filling and put it all together. It was just yummy!

For the Tart Crust

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup sugar, powdered

1/2 cup almonds, ground

1/2 cup butter, cold

1/4 cup cold water

In a large bowl, add all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa, almond) and mix roughly with a spatula. Cut butter into small size and add to the flour mixture. Mix with the help of a spatula with cutting motions…you want the butter to mix with the flour mixture and turn into smaller size pieces. Once the butter starts resembling the size of peas leave the spatula and rub the mixture between your hand till it starts looking like bread crumbs. Now start kneading the mixture with 1 tbs of cold water at a time till it forms a nice, unsticky dough. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for minimum 2 hours or overnight. It can stay in the fridge like this for up to 4 days.

Depending on the size of your tart pan, roll out the dough into a round of 1/8 inch thickness. Arrange on the tart pan, trim the edges and bake in a preheated oven at 350 F for 30 minutes. Let cool completely. If you are making smaller individual tarts, then you will have to bake for lesser time.

For Cherry Filling

2 cups pitted cherries (preferably fresh)+ plus a few extra whole cherries for garnishing

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup ricotta cheese (use mascarpone instead, if possible)

In a large saucepan, cook cherries with sugar at low heat for about 15 to 20 minutes…till they turn soft and mushy and starts resembling a pie filling. Turn the heat off and bring to room temperature. Mix with the cheese and refrigerate, covered.

For Chocolate Filling

1 1/2 cup whole milk

1 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 cup chopped up good quality dark chocolate

3 tbs nutella (optional)

1 tbs cornstarch

In a heavy bottom saucepan, heat up milk and condensed milk stirring frequently. Add chocolate and mix till it melts and everything comes together as a smooth liquid. Dissolve the cornstarch in 2 tbs of cold milk and add to the hot mixture. Turn the heat of and keep stirring the chocolate mixture. Bring to room temperature and mix in the nutella.

To Assemble the Tart

In the cool tart shell, add two generous dollops of cherry filling and spread to cover the entire surface of the tart. If you made 1 large tart then use more of the cherry filling – you want to cover half of tart in height. Pour the chocolate filling and level/smooth with a spatula. Refrigerate for a minimum of 3 to 4 hours before serving. Garnish with whole cherries and shaved chocolate.