Chocolate Pecan Tart

I have never made a tart before, and have never had anything remotely close to this so I had no idea what to expect.  It did not disappoint!  It was a flaky crust, with the chocolate layer turning out perfectly chewy extremely chocolatey brownie, with a hint of pecan pie on top!  SO good!  The actual recipe calls for hazelnuts, I did pecans, so I'm sure you can do pretty much anything and have it turn out well.


Chocolate Hazelnut (or Pecan!) Tart

Pastry for one-crust 9 inch pan*
1/3 cup butter
2 oz unsweetened chocolate
3 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup corn syrup (I used light corn syrup)
1 cup hazelnuts (or pecans, or whatever), skinned and coarsley chopped
sweetened whipped cream**

Move oven rack to lowest position.  Heat oven to 475.  Make pastry as directed - roll into a 12 inch circle. Fold pastry into fourths; unfold and ease into springform pan, 9x3 inches, pressing firmly against bottom and side.  Prick bottom and side thoroughly with fork.  Bake 5 minutes; cool. 

Reduce oven temperature to 350.  Heat butter and chocolate over low heat, stirring constantly, until chocolate is melted; cool slightly.  Beat eggs, sugar, salt, corn syrup and chocolate mixture in medium bowl using hand beater.  Stir in hazelnuts.  Pour into pastry-lined pan. 

Bake 65-70 minutes or until set; cool 10 minutes.  Loosen tart from side of pan; remove side of pan.  Serve with sweetened whipped cream.  Refrigerate any remaining tart. 

*Standard Pastry Dough for 1 crust pie:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup plus 1 Tbsp shortening
2-3 Tbsps cold water

(Now, I doubled this because I hate rolling crust when it is too thin and ripping.  I would much rather have too much dough, roll it a little bigger so it's not too thick and then cut off the extra.)

In medium bowl, mix flour and salt.  Cut in shortening using pastry blender or 2 knives, until it resembles crumbs the size of peas.  Sprinkle with cold water and toss with a fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost leaves the sides of the bowl. 

Gather pastry into a ball; shape into a flattened round on plastic wrap, wrap completely in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 45 minutes, or until dough is firm and cold, yet pliable.  Roll out between 2 sheets of wax paper. 



**Sweetened Whipped Cream:

Alright, this part is so easy.  For each cup of whipping cream (or heavy cream) that you use, add a few tablespoons of sugar.  Whip with a blender till thick and delicious!