A little gold leaf never hurt anyone! And, it certainly turns an ordinary chocolate pistachio tart into something festive.
To me, tarts and pies are like Dagwood sandwiches, I often fill them with whatever fruit, nut or custard I have on hand and they mostly turn out gorgeous. Experimenting on my guests on Christmas was a little risky, but it turned out beautiful and tasty, so I’m passing on the recipe here!
This bittersweet chocolate and pistachio frangipane tart came together by accident as I had some left over pistachio paste from a pistachio & cardamom pound cake I was making for Christmas brunch. I was intending on making a rich and decadent chocolate tart for Christmas dinner anyways, so I just added the two together. And besides, most things that end up in a Tupperware container in my refrigerator end up going in the trash about a month later, so I decided to make use of it instead.
I will admit, this recipe is time consuming to make. It’s not hard per se, but there are three steps and they all take time: the tart shell (make and bake), the pistachio paste frangipane (make and bake first layer), and the chocolate custard (make and bake to finish tart). Again, all steps are easy, but the layers are made and baked separately. So, keep this in mind as you proceed. I wish I had, had a little more of the pistachio paste frangipane for the first layer. As you can see from the picture, it’s a thin tier. So I’m publishing the full frangipane recipe that could actually be used for a full tart on it’s own if desired (maybe with some apricot or pear slices on top?) or for a full first layer of this tart.
I garnished the top with some gold leaf I had on hand, some chopped candied orange and a little dusting of ground up pistachio. Voilà! Nothing to it! This tart is on the rich bittersweet side so a nice dollop of sweetened whipped cream is the perfect compliment.
Ingredients
- For Pâte Brisée:
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling out
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup cold unsalted European style butter, cut into small pieces
- ½ cup ice water (you will not use all of this)
- For the Pistachio "Frangipane" Layer:
- 4 oz unsalted butter - softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 1 cup ground pistachios (toast raw unsalted pistachios for 10 minutes before grinding and rub off any skins)
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- A tiny bit of green food color or gel paste if desired (yeah, I used some, it was Christmas!)
- For Chocolate Top Layer:
- 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 10 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- 2 large eggs
- 1 vanilla bean, split with seeds scrapped
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
One 10-inch fluted tart pan with removable bottom
For Pie Crust:
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flour and salt together. Add the butter and rub in using your fingertips pressing the two ingredients together, until the texture resembles cornmeal. Or you can put it in a food processor and pulse with on-off presses.
Add a few tablespoons of the ice water mixing until a crumbly dough begins to form, add more water little by little until the dough just comes together. Turn the dough out onto a clean surface and knead it three times until it is pliable. You don't want to overwork the dough or it will be tough.
Divide dough into two discs (one about 1/3 or the dough and the other the remainder because the tart pan is larger than most) and flatten the dough into rounds, cover with saran wrap and chill for at least an hour to allow the gluten to rest. (you can freeze one dough disk and reserve for another time). When ready to use allow the dough to come up close to room temperature and then roll out to fit tart pan or pie dish. Prick dough with a fork all over the bottom to prevent bubbles.
Preheat oven to 350˚F and blind bake the tart shell by covering the inside of the tart with tin foil and filling with baking beans (or any dry beans). Bake for 15 to minutes or until it is just cooked and beginning to turn golden.
For the Pistachio Frangipane:
In the bowl of a food processor grind the pistachio until it is as fine as almond flour, this step can also be done in a Vitaprep. Add in the sugar, orange zest and softened butter, cream together. Add the flour and salt and pulse to mix. Beat the eggs speparately with vanilla extract and add to the food processor and pulse just until a smooth paste comes together.
For the chocolate Layer:
Put chopped chocolate in a mixing bowl. Bring cream to a boil with vanilla pod and vanilla bean seeds (If you are not a death-by-chocolate fan and require a little more sugar in your bittersweet chocolate dessert then add the sugar to the cream over the heat and whisk in), then pour cream over chocolate and let stand for 2 minutes. Gently stir with a small whisk starting with small circular movements until little by little the mixture becomes smooth. Whisk together eggs, vanilla, and salt in another bowl and then whisk into melted chocolate.
How to Assemble:
After par-baking the pastry and allowing it cool slightly, fill the shell half way up with the pistachio frangipane and bake at 350F for about 12 minutes. You will have extra filling left over that you can save and add to another recipe if desired. It will not be cooked all the way, but slightly poufed. Then add your chocolate filling over gently, spreading out with a spatula. This should come up almost to the top of your tart shell.
Continue to bake on 350˚F until chocolate filling is set but still a tiny bit jiggle-y in the middle (no more than a quarter size of the center should jiggle) 20 minutes.
Cool completely and let "set" before slicing. Decorate with chopped candied orange and pistachios if desired and maybe even a little gold leaf?!? This tart definitely needs a sweetened whipped cream to go alongside...
