The chestnut and chocolate tart is a very delicious autumn dessert, where only the pastry shell is baked. In fact, the filling is prepared separately and then added once the pastry has cooled. It is a creamy filling, with lots of blended chestnuts covered with a delicious dark chocolate ganache. The whole thing is decorated with chestnut hearts, which are a typical autumn sweet, present in almost all South Tyrolean pastry shops from September to December and which I am very fond of. It’s actually these chestnut hearts that gave me the idea for this chocolatey tart.
If you like chestnuts, also try these recipes of mine:
- Difficulty: Medium
- Rest time: 2 Hours
- Preparation time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 10 slices
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 pinches salt
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 5 oz butter (cold)
- 1/3 cup cocoa nibs
- 1 lb chestnuts, boiled (weight peeled)
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 5 oz dark chocolate
- 4 oz chestnuts, boiled (weight peeled)
- 1 tbsp powdered sugar
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 5 oz dark chocolate
Steps
To prepare the chestnut and chocolate tart, start by making the cocoa pastry.
Place the flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, salt, and sugar in the mixer. Run the mixer until a crumbly mixture is obtained. Transfer everything to a work surface, add the cocoa nibs and knead briefly with your hands until you get a homogeneous dough.
Shape the dough into a flat disk, wrap it in plastic wrap, and store it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
After the resting time in the fridge, preheat the oven to 350°F (fan-assisted).
Roll out the dough between two sheets of parchment paper and line the bottom and sides of a tart pan (preferably with a removable bottom). Prick the bottom of the dough with a fork, cover with a sheet of parchment paper and fill with ceramic baking beads or dried beans, to bake it blind.
Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, remove the ceramic beads or dried beans along with the parchment paper, and bake the pastry again for 15-20 minutes, until fully cooked.Remove from the oven and let the cocoa pastry shell cool completely.
To prepare the chestnut filling, place the boiled and peeled chestnuts in the mixer with the powdered sugar. Blend everything for a few moments, then pour in 1/2 cup of heavy cream and continue to blend until you get a creamy mixture.
Finely chop the dark chocolate and place it in a deep dish. Heat the remaining cream (1/3 cup) until it begins to boil. Pour the cream over the chopped chocolate and stir until melted and you have a smooth mixture.
Fill the cocoa pastry shell with the chestnut cream, spreading it evenly. Then cover everything with the still-liquid chocolate ganache, also distributing it evenly over the entire surface.
Place the boiled and peeled chestnuts in the mixer with the powdered sugar. Blend everything for a few moments, then pour in 2 tbsps of heavy cream and continue to blend until you get a homogeneous, moldable mixture.
Divide the mixture into 10 equal portions and shape each piece into small triangles, trying to make them resemble chestnuts. Place them on parchment paper.
Finely chop the dark chocolate and melt it in a bain-marie or microwave, without overheating! Pour the melted chocolate into a glass or other tall and narrow container. Pierce the first “chestnut” with a fork on the side opposite the tip and dip it in the melted chocolate, covering almost entirely, leaving the part pierced with the fork free, to recreate the resemblance to a chestnut. Let it drain and place on parchment paper or a wire rack. Proceed in the same way for all the chestnuts. Let them dry completely.
Once the chocolate ganache has set a bit and the chestnut hearts have dried, you can place them along the edge of the tart, evenly spaced from each other.
Then whip the remaining cream (1/2 cup), transfer it to a piping bag with a plain or star nozzle, and decorate the tart with dollops of whipped cream between the various chestnut hearts.
