Laura’s Chocolate chestnut tart "Tarte au chocolat et crème de marrons"

simplygascony
6 days ago
2 min read

Sweetened chestnut purée (crème de marrons) is an iconic French ingredient. Sweet chestnuts grow in abundance all over France, and here in Gascony.

In the late 1800s a clever food manufacturer created this product and, although it is distinctly French, it is widely exported which is good news for lovers of French food. The best brand is Clément Faugier, so if you are visiting France look out for tins in the supermarkets and be sure to tuck a few into your suitcase before returning home.

Perfect for fuss-free holiday baking, this simple and elegant tart recipe highlights a match made in heaven: chocolate and sweetened chestnut purée. The chestnut flavouris subtle yet pleasant, and the texture of the filling becomes creamier and smoother thanks to the addition of the crème de marrons.

For entertaining, this can easily be made in advance and kept in the refrigerator until needed (for up to 24 hours), but do not serve it chilled; room temperature is ideal.

If you prefer, make your favourite sweet pastry (pâte sucrée) from scratch but it is perfectly acceptable to use a ready-made all-butter sweet pastry. Whichever method you choose be sure to pre-bake your pastry shell, using a loose-bottomed pan, before adding the chocolate-chestnut filling.

Ingredients

1 pre-baked 25 cm Sweet Pastry tart shell, still in its tin and cooled

cocoa powder, for dusting

whipped cream or sweetened crème fraîche, to serve

Chocolate chestnut filling

100 g dark chocolate, finely chopped

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 egg, beaten

200 ml cream

200 g tinned sweetened chestnut purée

Serves 6-8

Cooking

Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F) Gas 2.

To make the filling, put the chocolate in a large microwave-proof bowl and microwave on HIGH for 30 seconds. Remove, stir and repeat until almost completely melted. Remove, add the butter and stir until melted.

Stir in the egg, cream and chestnut purée and mix just to blend.

Put the tart shell on a baking tray and set this on the oven rack, partly pulled out. (If you try to fill the shell and then transfer it to the oven, it may spill over the edges and burn.) Pour the chocolate mixture into the tart shell and carefully slide the oven shelf back into place.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20–25 minutes, until just set. Let cool to room temperature before serving. Dust with cocoa powder, if desired.

*NOTE If you don’t have a microwave, put the chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water – don’t let the water touch the bottom of the bowl. Leave until melted, stirring occasionally.

Laura Washburn Hutton

Atelier Cuisine Fourcès

+33 (0) 7 77 92 40 89

cookingchateau@gmail.com