Dark Chocolate and Oats Tart

This eggless dark chocolate tart with a simple oats crust and a smooth ganache is unbelievably easy to make but also unfathomably delicious!

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If you’ve followed my blog for a while you’ll know that I love using oats in baking. But that wasn’t always the case. I used to think oatmeal is boring and it may make things taste bland somehow! Slowly I came to realize that as an ingredient, oats is actually one of those blank canvases that you can paint the way you like! It’s so versatile and can add so much texture and flavour to a recipe! Specially in something as basic as a chocolate tart where you want chocolate to be the predominant flavour yet need just that little bit extra.

OATS CRUST

For this tart, I made the base using ready oats flour.

Brand I recommend – Jiwa Oats Flour

You could use regular instant oats as well and grind it. To make 1 cup of oats flour, you need 1 cup of oats. Measure the oats, and put it in a processor/mixer and pulse it a few times. Oats flour has a coarse consistency yet works well in the crust without being too crumbly. Alongwith the oats flour, goes in a little bit of all-purpose flour, brown sugar (or caster sugar), a pinch of salt and a pinch of baking powder.

COLD BUTTER

One of the key differences between a good flaky pie/tart and a hard/cracked one is COLD BUTTER. A simple enough thing yet one that many people often don’t realize! You need to work the butter into the flour and break it up into a bread crumb like texture. For that you need to use butter right out of the fridge. Just when starting to make a tart, I measure cold butter and cut it into small cubes, then place it the freezer while I mix the dry ingredient which further chills it. Then using only your finger tips, rub the butter into the flour mix and let it form grainy sand-like consistency.

WATER

For the same reasons as above, cold water works best in bringing together the dough. While putting the butter into the freezer, I also place a small bowl of water with it or if it’s not cold enough in time, I add a cube of ice to the bowl. The tart crust doesn’t need a lot of water, butter does most of the job. Just about 2-3 tsp to bring it all together into a pillowy soft ball. But as is often the case, because the quantity of water seems so little, a lot of people make the mistake of adding too much at a go, turning the dough into a messy batter instead. The ideal thing to do is to add only a tsp at a time and begin to knead your dough. Add more water only if you feel the dough is still crumbling too much.

While the dough does not resting time as such, if your ambient temperature is very warm, it doesn’t hurt to put it away in the freezer for 5-10 minutes to make it easier to work with. Yes when making pies and tarts, the freezer is your best friend!

SHAPING

Unlike a pie dough made with regular flour, the oats flour crust cannot be rolled out. The best way to mould it into your tart tin is to press it in, starting with the sides first and then putting the base. The tin doesn’t need to be greased since there’s enough butter in the dough to take care of the sticking part! Take a little bit of the dough in your hands and start pressing on the sides with your fingers. Adjust the thickness as you go. Once the sides have lined up, press down the base and remove all the extra dough from the top. The quantity in the recipe makes a 6 inch tart or two small 4 inch tarts.

BLIND BAKING

Blind baking is the process of baking the crust prior to filling it. Typically you need to place some “weights” like beans on the base of a tart crust while baking to keep it from flat. While for this crust, you don’t have to do that, you still need to prick the base with a fork- what is called as “docking” before baking to ensure it doesn’t puff up in the oven.

The tart will bake in a pre-heated oven for 25-30 minutes and you’ll start to see the sides become slightly golden. Another way to know when the crust is baked is when the sides start to pull away from the tin slightly. The good thing about this dough is that there is very little shrinkage during baking. You need the let the crust cool down completely before demoulding and filling it. This crust can be made in advance and stored upto 3 days. Once it has cooled, take it out and individually wrap each crust with cling film carefully and keep it on a tray in a dry place. Or keep the crust in an airtight container in a dry and cool place.

FILLING

The filling for this tart is as simple as it gets – dark chocolate and cream. Or the magical word – chocolate ganache! The use of only two ingredients however also means that the quality of these two ingredients becomes highly essential in elevating the dessert. Fresh dairy cream like Amul or any other brand works best. For the chocolate, I recommend using a 50% or darker chocolate. I used a 54.5%. To make the ganache, you start by bringing the cream to a boil. Then you pour it over the chocolate set in a bowl, wait for a minute and then whisk it well till all the chocolate has melted. A tiny dollop of salted butter makes this ganache richer and more robust but you could skip it if you like.

You then transfer this silky smooth ganache to your tart shell and let us sit in the fridge for an hour. Because we’re using chocolate and cream in the ratio of 2:1, the ganache sets in the crust quite well to be able to cut the tart into slices, and doesn’t need any gelatin or other setting agent. You could garnish the tart with fruits, nuts, or any other topping you like. A sprinkle of sea salt also works fantastically!

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Looking for more chocolate recipes? Find them here

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• Chocolate-Chip Cookies
• No-Bake Chocolate Pudding
• Chocolate Doughnuts
• Greek Yogurt Chocolate Mousse