Recipe: Choc-Cherry Tart

In my pursuit to perfect some decadent primal recipes, ready to whip up for family and friends at Christmas, I took advantage of the opportunity to have my brother over for dinner in order to get feedback from someone outside of the sugar- and gluten-free experience. However, the frequency of consumption made snapping photos difficult, so when I make these tarts again (and I certainly will, given their response!), I will take the time to snap some nicer shots. If you make a batch of your own, I'd love to see the outcome!

Choc-Cherry Tart


Ingredients:

Crust

1 cup almond flour
1 egg
1 dash vanilla essence or 1/4t ground vanilla pods
1T butter
1/2t cinnamon
Optional - enough sugar substitute to sweeten crust

Filling

(I'm listing the amounts I used, but I had extra filling so I cooked the excess in ramekins - worked very well too! Making one large tart may require the whole amount of filling...)

400g 100% cacao buttons (or cocoa mixed with coconut oil if preferred)
250g butter
3 whole eggs
5 egg yolks
200g cherries, pitted
Optional - enough sugar substitute to sweeten as desired

Note - if you use a lighter form of chocolate, such as 90% Lindtt dark chocolate, you may need to decrease the amount of butter you use to balance the fat amounts.


Method:

Crust

Preheat oven to 150°C. Prepare a pie pan or muffin tray.

Combine all ingredients into a moist ball of dough.

Press dough into pan to make a thin but consistent crust density.

Place in oven until dough becomes a light golden-brown. (Note - if you notice the butter in the crust bubbling too much, turn down your oven slightly, as you want the moisture to stay bound in the almond flour)



Filling

Melt chocolate and butter, and combine well.

In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, yolk, and sweetener until fluffy.

Fold chocolate mixture into eggs gently.

Place cherries along the bottom of the tart shell



Gently pour the chocolate over the cherries until just covered. The mixture will rise a little during cooking. The filling mixture is as dark as the chocolate, but a thin layer of lighter, frothy mix may float to the top - quite a nice effect since the top of the tart then matches the colour of the base, and heightens the 'surprise' of the filling. But your mixture may not end up as frothy - it will depend on the quality of the eggs you use. I use organic, pastured eggs that do wonderful things - as Joel Salatin says, they express the true essence of egg :)



Place in oven until mixture has risen and bounces back when touched in the centre. It took around 30 minutes for me, but a large tart would take at least 45 minutes, at a guess.

Serve warm or at room temperature, with cream.

This batch made 6 muffin-sized tarts, plus three filled ramekins. It should be enough to fill a large pie dish.



Well, it certainly isn't light on calories, but the beau and my brother adored these little tartlettes! They gushed over the chocolaty insides and the joy of discovering whole cherries. I made six tarts with crusts, and three 'souffles' in ramekins, and the beau is steadily making his way through them - they're his current choice for breakfasts! As I am living as a carnivore at the moment, I could only watch and ask questions, but hopefully I'll be able to enjoy this delight on occasion in the future. Maybe it can be my Christmas treat!