Chocolate Ganache Tart
This chocolate ganache tart is decadent and luxurious. The crust, made with hazelnut meal, is unfussy and forgiving; there’s no need for kneading or resting, you simply combine all of the ingredients and press them into a tart shell. This tart is lovely served on its own, but would be all the more delicious paired with a vanilla bean whipped cream.
For the crust
1¾ cups untoasted hazelnut meal
5 tablespoons maple sugar
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon cayenne
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
For the ganache
8 ounces Fine & Raw Brooklyn Bonnie 70% dark chocolate (4 bars), roughly chopped
12 ounces heavy cream
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into ½” pieces
Flaky salt
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Butter a 9” tart pan, then line it with a piece of parchment cut to fit the pan. Butter the parchment paper too.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the hazelnut meal, maple sugar, sea salt, cinnamon and cayenne. Pour in the melted butter and mix with your hands until the mixture looks sandy and barely holds together when squeezed. Press the mixture into the prepared tart pan, first alongside the base and then alongside the edges. Compress it as much tightly as you can.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden and aromatic, being careful not to let the crust burn. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
When the crust has cooled, make the ganache. Add the chopped chocolate to a medium mixing bowl. Heat the cream over medium heat until it just barely reaches a simmer, then remove it from the heat and pour it over the chocolate. Leave the two undisturbed for 5 minutes, then add the butter and vigorously stir with a heatproof spatula. The chocolate and butter will melt into the warm cream, and with enough stirring should come together into a silky, homogenous ganache. Don’t stop stirring until it looks lush and everything is evenly incorporated.
Pour the ganache into the crust, then place in the refrigerator to chill for at least an hour until the ganache has firmed up considerably. Slice and serve.