After the chocolate and puff pastry tart and the chocolate tart that thinks it’s a pudding (which you can already find on the blog), comes this even more delicious version: the chocolate and nougat tart. Being a true Cremonese, I certainly couldn’t avoid using one of the iconic products of my city, could I? It is a truly irresistible dessert, perfect for those who love chocolate cakes with an intense and enveloping flavor. The creamy filling, enriched with nougat, makes this tart ideal to serve as a dessert at the end of a meal. I assure you it will impress: it’s not difficult to prepare and at the same time very scenic. Also, it’s a great idea to use up leftover nougat during the holidays. However, I’ll tell you right away that it’s so good that it’s worth making it all year round. So, keep some nougat in the freezer (where it should always be stored) and bring out this recipe on any occasion. Ah… I admit: it’s certainly not a ‘light’ dessert, but I guarantee every bite is worth the indulgence.
Other inviting desserts you might be interested in:
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 3 Hours
- Preparation time: 25 Minutes
- Portions: 10People
- Cooking methods: Stove, Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients for the chocolate and nougat tart
Remove the orange zest with a peeler, being careful not to remove the white part which would be bitter. Use an untreated orange, as the peel of others is not edible.
If you prefer, you can replace it with lemon zest; however, I recommend orange because its combination with chocolate is truly perfect.
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 9 tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg (medium)
- 1 egg yolk (medium)
- 1 pinch salt
- orange zest (two long strips)
- 10 oz dark chocolate
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
- 3/4 cup milk
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp marsala wine
- 1 egg (medium)
- 3.5 oz nougat
Tools
I made the shortcrust pastry with the Bimby, but you can make it without any problems with any mixer or by hand. In this case, work the flour and butter first until you get a sandy mixture, then add powdered sugar, eggs, a pinch of salt, and grated orange zest and knead quickly. The rest is all the same.
- 1 Mixer (I used the Bimby)
- 1 Rolling pin
- 1 Tart pan with removable bottom, 10 inches in diameter
- 1 Saucepan
- Ceramic pie weights
Preparation of the chocolate and nougat tart
Place the orange zest in the bowl, add the sugar, and chop for 15 seconds at speed 7. If you don’t have the Bimby, I recommend grating the zest and using powdered sugar.
Then, add the flour, butter in pieces, egg yolk, whole egg, and a pinch of salt and knead for 1 minute at Knead speed.
Transfer the mixture onto a lightly floured work surface, compact it quickly with your hands, form a flat loaf, wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least one hour.
After the rest time, bring the orange shortcrust pastry back to the work surface and roll it out with a rolling pin over a sheet of parchment paper. Using the paper, flip it gently inside a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom, previously buttered and floured. By proceeding this way, it may happen that some points of the edge remain uncovered. Don’t worry! Detach some dough from the excess parts and use it to fill the gaps. The shortcrust pastry is easily moldable and adjusts without difficulty.
Once the bottom and edges of the tart pan are lined, use the same sheet of parchment paper to cover the pastry; then fill it with dry legumes or ceramic pie weights and proceed with blind baking in a preheated static oven at 338°F for 20 minutes. This step allows us to obtain a well-cooked base.
At the end of baking, remove the base from the oven, gently remove the ceramic pie weights with the help of the parchment paper, and let it cool.
With a knife, cut the nougat into pieces. Set aside 1.5 oz, choosing the larger pieces that will be used for the final decoration. During the cutting, in fact, finer crumbs will also form. The remaining 2 oz will be distributed over the chocolate cream before baking. Set everything aside.
Place the chopped dark chocolate, powdered sugar, milk, butter, and liqueur in a saucepan. Heat over low heat until the mixture is perfectly smooth, stirring almost continuously. Then, remove it from the heat, add the whole egg, and stir quickly to incorporate it perfectly.
Pour this cream into the shortcrust pastry shell and sprinkle it with the 2 oz of nougat set aside. These pieces will tend to melt during baking.
Bake the chocolate and nougat tart in a preheated static oven at 320°F for another 20 minutes. Once cooked, let it cool to room temperature before adding the larger nougat pieces set aside on the surface. Finally, transfer the cake to the refrigerator for at least two hours. You will see that the added nougat will remain visible and intact, and I guarantee that the contrast of textures is AMAZING. Enjoy! Paola
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Note
I found this recipe in the book “Torrone a modo mio” dedicated to Sperlari (a Cremonese company) and edited by “Il Cucchiaio d’Argento” and here I proposed it with my modifications.
