Chocolate Souffle Tart
This Chocolate Souffle Tart is every chocolate lover’s dreammmm! Decadent, rich, fluffy, light, cosy, fancy, flavourful…it’s a sweet sweet delight. Warm souffle tart fresh out of oven, paired with a cold, luxurious vanilla bean ice cream- it’s the perfect dessert to get lost into.
Recipe
Serves: 4x 10cm tarts
Ingredients
For the wattleseed pastry:
100g unsalted butter, cubed and frozen
67g icing sugar
167g plain flour
20g almond meal
pinch of salt
zest of 1/2 orange
33g eggs
1 egg yolk + 30g cream, for egg wash
For the chocolate core (see note*):
50g heavy cream
15g unsalted butter
15g water
35g good quality dark chocolate (I use 54.5% Callebaut 811)
pinch of salt
For the chocolate souffle:
140g good quality dark chocolate (I use 66% Mexique Cacaco Barry) (see note**)
36g egg yolks (~2 large eggs)
10ml whiskey or bourbon (skip for NA version)
1g sea salt
63g egg whites (~2 large eggs)
50g caster sugar
To serve:
vanilla bean ice cream
cocoa powder/ icing sugar, for dusting
caramelised hazelnuts, chopped, optional
Method
For the wattleseed pastry:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, add the dry ingredients along with the frozen butter. Mix until all the flour is completely coated with butter, and the mixture resembles like wet sand.
With the mixer still running, once the dough starts to clump together, add in the egg and mix until the dough just comes together.
Transfer onto a work surface and use your hands to shape the dough into a disc. Cover with cling wrap and chill for at least 4 hours or preferably overnight.
The next day, line the fluted tarts (I use 10cm tart shells)- on a lightly floured surface, roll out the chilled pastry to 3-4mm thickness, ensuring the pastry is larger than the tart case. Brush off the excess flour and line the tart cases. Freeze for 15 mins.
Using a sharp paring knife, trim off the excess pastry by holding the knife horizontal to the tart case edge and simultaneously rotating the tart case. Freeze the tarts completely (see note***). To watch a video on how to line a tart shell correctly, click here.
Preheat oven to 170°C.
Line the tart with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or beans. Blind bake the tart for 15-20 mins or until the tart no longer looks wet.
Carefully remove the pie weights and the parchment paper and return the tart to the oven for another 5-10 mins or until golden brown. Depending on the size of the tart, the time will vary. I’d suggest to go by the colour.
Egg-wash the baked tart. Extra: if you’d like, you can also coat the outside of the tart with feuilletine for extra texture. Let them cool completely.
For the chocolate core:
Make a day in advance: In a small pot, add the cream, butter & water and place over medium heat until the butter melts and the cream is hot.
Remove from heat and add the chocolate & salt. Whisk until all the chocolate has melted completely and the mixture looks homegenous.
Pour into half-sphere silicon moulds (see note****) and freeze completely. Store in the freezer until use. They can be frozen for up to 4 weeks.
For the chocolate souffle:
Place the chocolate in a medium bowl and melt over a double boiler or in a microwave. Keep aside to cool.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a whisk attachment, add the egg whites and sugar and whip the meringue to stiff peaks.
Once the meringue is ready, add egg yolks, whiskey and salt to the cooled chocolate and stir to combine well.
Add 1/4th of the meringue to the chocolate mix and mix to combine.
Add the remaining meringue and fold gently using a spatula, careful not to deflate the mix.
Transfer to a piping bag.
Assemble and bake:
Pipe a thin layer of the souffle mix at the base of the cooled tart shells.
Unmould the chocolate cores and place one at the centre of the tart.
Pipe the souffle mix on top to completely cover the core, up to the height of the tart. Use a palette knife to smoothen out. Repeat for all tarts.
Preheat oven to 150°C. While the oven is preheating, place the filled tarts in the freezer. They can be stored in the freezer for up to 1 week.
Place the tart from the freezer into the oven and bake for 15-16 mins or until the souffle has risen and you can no longer see wet patches. Depending on the size of the tart, the time will vary.
Serve immediately with a dusting of cocoa powder or icing sugar, along with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and caramelised hazelnuts. Bon appetite!
Notes:
*- this recipe does yield more than what we need. However, scaling the recipe down any smaller will not yield good results. Luckily, they do store really well in the freezer for up to 4 weeks.
**- for extra flavour bump, you can also smoke the chocolate a little before using.
***- you can line the tarts ahead of time and store in the freeze for up to 2 weeks.
****- the size of your half-sphere silicon mould will depend on the size of your tart shell. I use a 4cm cavity for a 10cm fluted shell.
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