Mini-Chocolate Tarts with Pistachio Praline

Do you pronounce it praline or praline?

This can be as simple or as complicated as you want!

Is it necessary to bust out the pâte sucrée and make your own tart shells for this? Of course not. Tart shells can be bought most anywhere and you could even make a graham cracker crust for this and call it a day. I wanted to cross off a few skills with this recipe. I’ve been seeing more flashy and over the top pâte sucrée tart shells on Instagram like adding different ingredients to create a marbling effect so I had to give it a try.

It’s surprisingly very easy to do this and it looks really quite impressive if I do say so. Pâte sucrée can be difficult to work with when it come to baking. The texture is very delicate and can often break apart wither when cooking or assembly. So if you choose to give it a try please be delicate.

The praline is easily my favorite element of this dish. You’re making a nut butter essentially and you certainly don’t have to do it with pistachios but I like the look. Pistachios also have a lot of flavor so they can stand up to the chocolate. But you can certainly use any nut butter you have laying around!

As for the chocolate, whatever chocolate you use is what you will taste. The heavy cream will still leave it a little dense and you can add more heavy cream (or Crème fraîche/sour cream, yogurt) to make it softer. But this was a really fun process and was happy with how these turned out.

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Makes 10-12 tarts

Necessaries

• Food processor

• Silicone baking mat

• Parchment paper

• Rolling pin

• Pastry brush

• 12-cup nonstick muffin tin

• Piping bags

• High powered blender

Ingredients

Pâte sucrée (tart shell)

• 200g AP flour

• 90g cubed, chilled unsalted butter

• 90g powdered sugar

• 1 egg

• 50g corn starch

• 1 tbsp cocoa powder (optional, for marbling)

• Splash of heavy cream, if necessary

Glaze

• 1 egg yolk + 1 tbsp heavy cream

Chocolate filling

• 300g finely chopped dark chocolate

• 250g heavy cream (or Crème fraîche for added tang)

• 2 tbsp honey

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Pistachio Praline

• 1 cup sugar

• ¼ cup water

• 2 cups shelled and roasted pistachios

• 2 - 4 tbsp neutral oil

• pinch of salt

Recipe

Make the tart shells.

Combine flour, butter, powder sugar, salt, and corn starch to a food processor. Pulse until you have a sandy texture. Add egg. Let it run until mixture is just crumbly enough to hold together.

Form into a disk, cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 hour. To achieve the optional marbling effect, after 30 minutes take the disk out, break it in half and add cocoa powder to the center. Push the two halves together and lightly knead it into a ball. Flatten into a disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for two hours.

After two hours. Roll our the the disk to a quarter inch thickness between two parchment papers. If the dough gets too warm, you can pop it in the freezer for 10 minutes. Cut out 4” circles, as many as you can. This dough can be rerolled very easily. Just re-form it into a a disk and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Place the cut circles on each cup of an inverted, nonstick, 12-count muffin pan. Pat down the edges slightly to form around the cups but don’t press down. As they cook they will contour naturally.

Place in freezer for 15 minutes. Bake at 325 for 15 minutes. Remove and let cups cool slightly before removing and turning over. Combine egg yolk and 1 tbsp heavy cream. Lightly brush the edges and inside with the glaze and return to the over, right side up on a tray, and bake for 10 minutes more.

Remove and let cool completely.

Make the praline.

In a medium sauce pot, add sugar and water. Stir on medium heat until dissolved. Take a pastry brush and some water and brush down the sides to get rid of excess sugar. After it comes to a boil, do not stir and continue to cook on medium heat until an amber caramel forms. It should smell like lightly burnt popcorn.

Once your caramel is complete, pour onto a baking mat set in a rimmed baking sheet and let cool completely until hardened.

Add pistachios, caramel, and 2 tbsp of neutral oil to a high powered blender. Begin to blend on medium, scraping occasionally if clumping up. You can slowly increase the speed little by little. Add 2-3 additional tablespoons of neutral oil if the praline is too dry. You are trying to achieve a spreadable and not-too-thick nut butter. Optionally add a 1/4 cup of finely chopped pistachios for added crunch. Add a pinch of salt to your liking, pour into a bowl to let cool. Add to piping bag.

Make the ganache.

Add chopped chocolate, honey, cinnamon, and vanilla to a heatproof bowl. Bring heavy cream to a simmer in a sauce pot and pour over the chocolate. Let sit for 30 seconds before beginning to whisk and bring it to a melty completion. Add a little to a piping bag.

Assembly.

Snip off the tips of the piping bags. Pipe 1/2-inch layer of pistachio praline on the bottom of your prepared tart shells, tap lightly with your hand to make sure it’s even. Pipe chocolate ganache to fill the shells to the top. Do as many as you can until the chocolate runs out.

Place tarts on a tray and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Add a sprinkle of Maldon salt on top and enjoy within two days!