The Cocoa tart with ricotta and jam is easy to prepare, beautiful to present, and truly delicious.
The peculiarity of this tart is that the cocoa shortcrust pastry shell encloses two different fillings. A layer based on ricotta and chocolate chips and one with jam.
When cut, it reveals its secret and captivates you first through sight and then with the taste.
It’s a really pleasant, fragrant, and creamy tart, and if desired, we can also personalize it using a classic shortcrust and jams that we like best.
I chose a strawberry jam that goes wonderfully with the cocoa shortcrust pastry, but it’s also exquisite with sour cherry or raspberry jam.
This two-color tart, or perhaps better said three-color, holds a very special meaning for me.
The first time I made it was in 2016, to celebrate my sister during her serenade, shortly before her wedding.
It had been years since I had dusted off the old photo to which I was attached, due to the reason just mentioned, even though it was technically full of errors!
After much hesitation, last week I decided to take new photos, hoping to do more “justice” to a truly special tart!
I have always liked the ricotta-jam combination, and I find that this tart is perfect for any occasion!
We can serve it during a Sunday lunch, as a gift if we’ve been invited to dinner, or why not, for a birthday, festivity or special occasions.
Let’s see together how to prepare the double-layer tart with ricotta and jam!
Make sure to read until the end, you’ll find useful tips for executing this recipe and a small gift for you ❤️
By the way, if you’re a tart lover, don’t miss these delicious proposals!
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 2 Hours
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: about 10 people
- Cooking methods: Electric oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup sugar
- Half tsp ground cinnamon (or lemon zest)
- 3/4 cup butter
- 1 pinch salt
- Half tsp baking powder
- 2 eggs (medium whole)
- 10.5 oz ricotta (cow, mixed, or sheep)
- 2.8 oz dark chocolate chips
- 2 tbsp sugar (to season the ricotta, increase the dose if desired)
- 14 oz jam (or marmalade, flavor to taste)
Tools
- 2 Bowls
- Tart mold
- Spatula
- Rolling pin
- Pastry board
Steps
Before starting, let me give you a premise that’s valid not just for this tart!
Whenever you make a dessert (or savory dish) with ricotta, remember to choose it fresh from the counter but most importantly dry.
It’s best to let it rest in a strainer to allow it to lose the whey. Subsequently, if necessary, it can be sieved to avoid lump formation.
As for the type of ricotta, I usually use cow’s milk, more delicate, but mixed or sheep’s milk are also fine.
Let’s start by taking a bowl and putting the ricotta in it.
Season with a couple of tablespoons of sugar, mix well with a hand whisk, and taste to check the sweetness level.
Then add the chocolate chips (they are not essential, so if you want, you can skip them) and mix.
The first filling for the tricolor tart is ready! Let it rest in the fridge just while you prepare the base.
In a bowl, combine the flour, a pinch of salt, unsweetened cocoa powder, half a teaspoon of cinnamon (only if you like it), baking powder, and sugar.
Mix all the ingredients with a spoon and then add the cold butter cut into cubes.
Quickly work the ingredients until you get a floury mixture. Then add the whole eggs.
Mix first inside the bowl using a spoon.
Then turn everything onto a pastry board and work quickly until you get a smooth and homogeneous dough.
Cover with food wrap and let rest in the fridge for about a couple of hours. To save time, you can prepare the shortcrust the night before.
After the resting time, take the shortcrust, divide it in two, one larger part for the base and the other for the decorative strips.
Roll out the shortcrust for the base with a rolling pin and line a 10-11 inch tart mold.
Prick the bottom with the tines of a fork, then fill with the ricotta and chocolate chip cream.
On top of the ricotta, spread the jam or marmalade you prefer using the back of a spoon to spread it well.
In this case, to facilitate the operation, I recommend using a jam or marmalade without pieces so that it can be spread better.
If the one you have contains fruit pieces, don’t worry, you can blend it to obtain a puree.
We’re almost there! Roll out the remaining shortcrust and make strips of the size you prefer.
Place the shortcrust strips on the tart and then put it straight in the oven at 340°F static mode for about 35-40 minutes.
If your oven only has a convection mode, that’s fine too, but lower the temperature to 320°F.
Please keep in mind, cooking time varies from oven to oven, so keep an eye on the baking.
Once cooked, remove the tart from the oven and let it cool completely before removing it from the mold.
And finally, you can enjoy this delicious tricolor tart with cocoa shortcrust, ricotta, and jam!
I hope you enjoyed this recipe! Let me know if you try it and come back soon to visit me!
Article protected by copyright © – Gabriella Geroni © All Rights Reserved
FAQ
If I wanted to make a shortcrust without cocoa, what are the measurements?
In the case of classic shortcrust, the amount of flour is 350 grams. All other ingredients and weights remain unchanged.
Can I substitute ricotta with something else?
Hmmmm! I always try to find variants and alternatives to my recipes, but if we’re talking about a tart based on ricotta and jam, the changes are few!
At most, you can avoid using ricotta and fill the tart only with jam/marmalade and maybe enrich it with fresh fruit (e.g., apples, strawberries, blueberries, depending on the chosen jam).
Alternatively, but in this case, we completely change the dessert, instead of ricotta, you can put custard. It will surely be a great tart, but it won’t be the one I proposed 😉
You can try, if you like, filling it with my lemon custard, it’s delicious!How long and how does the ricotta and jam tart keep?
Once baked, the tart lasts at room temperature for up to a week, but it depends on the temperature.
If it’s particularly hot at home, three to four days is the shelf life.
Typically, to prevent the shortcrust from becoming too soft, tarts are not kept in the fridge. However, to avoid spoiling it and having to throw it away, the tart can be stored in the fridge, always covered to avoid absorbing the smell of other foods.What can I use instead of chocolate chips?
I’d say nothing!
Chocolate chips go perfectly with cocoa shortcrust and the jam I chose. They are not overwhelming to the taste and create that pleasant contrast that makes the tart truly delicious.
If you really don’t like chocolate chips, don’t use them, it’s not mandatory.
I don’t recommend adding anything else in their place because I haven’t tested it myself and wouldn’t be able to give you an opinion on the final result 😉Can I freeze the ricotta tart?
Yes, tarts can be frozen both raw and cooked and they last for about two months.
If you want to freeze the tart before baking, you can put it in the mold that will go directly into the oven when you decide to bake it.
In this case, I recommend not using disposable aluminum molds and lining the bottom of the mold with parchment paper to prevent the tart from touching the sides of the mold.
Regarding thawing, if the tart was frozen raw, it should be put directly in the oven while still frozen.
If the tart was frozen after baking, it should go in the fridge for about ten hours, to allow gradual thawing without thermal shock.
As always mentioned, once thawed, any product cannot be refrozen and should be consumed within two to three days.
