Chocolate and Gianduia Tart

I don’t really remember when I started cooking and when I first realized I was loving it. My first cooking-related memory is from when I was 4 or 5 years old and my grandparents would take my sister Federica and me to their country house in Poggio Mirteto. There, in the garden my sister and I would prepare some kind of ‘soup’ with greens, soil, pebbles and, possibly, worms! I guess my sister was shocked (she hasn’t cooked anything else ever since) but I must have been inspired, probably more by my grandmother’s lasagna, apple cakes and crème caramel than by our dirt soups.

In any event, at a certain point I just realized what an important part of our life food is and how a well-cooked heartwarming dish can make people happier. To me, it is the cooking process itself, actually even the cooking planning, that is a source of sheer happiness. Looking for good recipes, thinking about new combinations of ingredients, shopping for the best products and then pulling out tools from my bottomless cabinet to me is just a lot of fun.  Also, spending hours in kitchen supply stores looking at tools and gadgets has always been a stress-relieving exercise.

Because of all the good they continue to bring into my life, I wish to share my recipes, little cooking tricks and food- or wine-related stories.

I am starting with a special treat. A chocolate and gianduia tart which has recently scored great points among my friends. Here we go!

CHOCOLATE AND GIANDUIA TART

FOR THE CRUST:

300 gr (0.66 lb) flour

50 gr (0.11 lb) dark cocoa powder

220 gr (0.5 lb) butter

130 gr (0.28 lb) sugar

2 egg yolks

vanilla essence

a pinch of salt

                                                   FOR THE FILLING

                                                   140 gr (0.30 lb) dark chocolate (at least 70%)

                                                   240 gr (0.53 lb) gianduia chocolate o gianduiotti (or Lindor)

                                                   6 dl (20 fl oz) heavy cream

                                                   4 egg yolks

                                                   120 gr (0.26 lb) sugar

Take the butter and the eggs out of the fridge one hour before starting the preparation of the crust. Thoroughly mix flour, cocoa powder, butter, sugar, egg yolks and vanilla in a bowl or on the kitchen counter until you have a uniform, smooth dough. You can use a mixer to prepare the crust pastry in order to speed up the process and avoid warming up the dough, but do not let the mixer run longer than necessary (a few seconds). If you are using a mixer you will need to knead the pastry with your hands just a few seconds to compact the dough. Make the dough ball-shaped and let it rest in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. 

Start working on the filling by cutting the chocolate and the gianduia in pieces and melting them in a bain-marie. A bain-marie, for the hopefully few of you who do not know what that is, is a cooking technique consisting in putting the container with the food (in our case the chocolate and gianduia) into a bigger container half-filled with water on a heating burner.

Once the chocolates have melted add the sugar and stir for a couple of minutes. Pour in slowly the hot heavy cream, stirring to incorporate the cream gradually and maintain a creamy texture. If for any reason the mixture is not perfectly smooth you can pass it through a mesh strainer to eliminate any lump. Finally, incorporate the egg yolks and stir for a couple of minutes.

While the cream is still warm, roll out the dough thinly on a floured board with a rolling pin. I find that a silicone baking mat makes the process of transferring the rolled dough to the pan very easy.

Transfer the thinly rolled dough on a 10 or 11 inch baking pan. If you don’t feel very comfortable at the idea of removing the tart from the pan, you can use a pie dish or a springform pan (a hinged pan). Alternatively, to facilitate the process of removing the tart from the pan you can place a sheet of parchment paper between the pan and the rolled dough.

Pour the chocolate cream into the pan and bake the pie for about 45 minutes at 180ºC (350ºF). Check up on the cooking process every so often and lower the oven temperature if you see that the filling is boiling. Once the tart is cooked take it out of the oven and let it cool. When it’s cool take it out of the pan. You can serve the tart straight or with whipped cream. For an extra kick, you can add a little chili powder, walnuts or little pieces of candied ginger or orange zest.