This is going to be an even quicker “quick take” than usual, because I only have one photo of this tart — taken after it was completely baked. (Since the procedure is all stuff I’ve covered before, more than once in some cases, I’m not too concerned.) This was the second of three things I baked in the week before Christmas, and one of two things I baked for the family Christmas Eve party. The process starts with a nine-inch tart shell (enriched with egg and cream), which is fully blind-baked and cooled. Three ounces (85 g) each of bittersweet and milk chocolate are cut into half-inch cubes, or as near to it as you can manage (I’m terrible at this, and ended up with milk-chocolate chunks that were too chunky, and dark-chocolate chunks that were too small). A caramel sauce is made from a cup (200 g) of sugar and a cup (240 ml) of cream and cooled, then whisked with two beaten eggs to form a caramel custard filling for the tart. The chocolate chunks are scattered over the tart shell, then the custard is poured in, and the whole thing is baked in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 20 minutes or so (it took closer to 25 minutes for me) until the filling is set.

When heated and cooled in this way, the chocolate chunks maintain their shape, but become soft and squishy, just like happens in a good chocolate-chip cookie. I had to refrigerate the tart for transportation, and unfortunately, that causes the cocoa butter to recrystallize, resulting in hard chunks of chocolate — it would have been much better if I could have maintained the tart at room temperature for the day and a half it would take to get to the party. Maybe next time.

Nutrition