Chocolate Tart with Sesame Seed Nougatine

“© 1994.2014 S.R.Canonne & J.A.Pfeiffer” The French Pastry School, L.L.C

Nothing elicits more memories than a well-prepared tart. Its production is simple, yet it is elegant. Linzer, lemon, raspberry, fromage, apple and, of course, the star of them all, chocolate - are all fantastic examples of straightforward sophistication. None, though, are more rich and inviting than the chocolate tart itself. Historically, tarts are known for being a precursor to the pie. The pie was originally rough, rustic, and most likely a shapeless conglomerate of dough and meat. Later, a sweeter version was developed that included honey and nuts. Slowly, these pies began to transform themselves from unrefined to finished, as we see with the custard tarts of medieval England. Nowadays, modern tarts represent fine ingredients and well thought out production. Unlike their predecessors, who originated from formless crusts filled with minced meat and sweet cream, today’s flawlessly formed tarts take center stage in bakeries around the world. Since its roots are as an à la minute (made to order) dessert, this tart is best served at room temperature. It bakes quickly as a custard and it is recommended to eat it fresh, the day it is baked. Adding sesame seed nougatine on top of the custard adds yet another layer of dimension to this already exquisite dessert. The assembly is simple; the finish is decidedly sleek. The chocolate tart represents the most sinful of the old custard tart’s successors and always seems to elicit the same pleasurable response from people ahhh…CHOCOLATE! The rich, classical depth of flavor from the chocolate custard and the flakey, buttery crust generates instant satisfaction. Simply put, this tart takes the chocolate “pie” to a new level.

“© 1994.2014 S.R.Canonne & J.A.Pfeiffer” The French Pastry School, L.L.C

Importance of Scaling You will notice that our recipes are measured in grams. This is not only the traditional French way of measuring ingredients in pastry and baking but it is also the most common practice among pastry chefs in general. In pastry, you have to be as exact as possible, and measuring in grams allows you to do that even more so than with ounces. For example, if a recipe calls for 4 grams of salt, that is equivalent to even less than one fifth of an ounce! If you don’t already have one, you can find a digital scale in many kitchen supply stores (or office supply stores), and they often measure in grams as well as ounces.

“© 1994.2014 S.R.Canonne & J.A.Pfeiffer” The French Pastry School, L.L.C

Chocolate Tart with Sesame Seed Nougatine Yield: three 3”x7” rectangles or two 8” circles Sweet Dough Ingredients: Plugrá Butter 82% Fat The Spice House Fleur De Sel, finely ground Nielsen Massey Bourbon Vanilla Bean Pulp Powdered Sugar American Almond Almond Powder Fresh Whole Eggs King Arthur Sifted Cake Flour Total Weight

240 g 2g 0.5 g 160 g 60 g 90 g 450 g 1,002.5 g

Method:  Cream the butter with the salt and the vanilla. 

Add the powdered sugar, almond powder, eggs, and 25% of the sifted flour.

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Add the remaining flour without overworking.

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Wrap the dough and refrigerate overnight.

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Roll the dough out to the right size for the tart mold and line the tart mold with the dough.

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Put the dough lined tart mold in the cooler and let the dough rest for 30 minutes before baking.

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Bake in a convection oven at 160ºC/325ºF, vent open.

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Cool on a wire rack.

“© 1994.2014 S.R.Canonne & J.A.Pfeiffer” The French Pastry School, L.L.C

Chocolate Custard Mix Ingredients: Fresh Whole Eggs Fresh Whole Milk Fresh Heavy Cream 35% Cacao Barry Dark Chocolate Couverture 64% Total Weight

100 g 160 g 380 g 400 g 1,040 g

Method:  Mix the eggs with the milk and cream. 

Bring to 70ºC/158ºF and strain over the melted chocolate.

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Pour custard mix into the pre-baked sweet dough tart shell and bake in a convection oven at 160ºC/325ºF, vent open, until custard like.

Sesame Seed Nougatine Ingredients: Patisfrance Glucose D.E. 36-39 Sucrose The Spice House Fleur De Sel Plugrá Butter 82% Fat American Almond Sliced Almonds With Skin The Spice House White Sesame Seeds The Spice House Black Sesame Seeds Total Weight

150 g 200 g As needed 10 g 150 g 60 g 60 g 630 g

Method:  Warm the glucose in the pan and slowly add the sucrose with the salt to make a caramel. 

Add the butter, warm almonds, and sesame seeds.

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Roll on a Silpat to the desired thickness and cut into desired shapes.

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Place on top of the tart.

“© 1994.2014 S.R.Canonne & J.A.Pfeiffer” The French Pastry School, L.L.C

Line a rectangle tart shell mold and bake until golden brown.

“© 1994.2014 S.R.Canonne & J.A.Pfeiffer” The French Pastry School, L.L.C

Prepare the custard and fill the tart shell immediately and bake at 300ºF until custard is just set.

“© 1994.2014 S.R.Canonne & J.A.Pfeiffer” The French Pastry School, L.L.C

Roll the nougatine and cut to the desired size.

“© 1994.2014 S.R.Canonne & J.A.Pfeiffer” The French Pastry School, L.L.C

Once baked and cooled, place the nougatine on top.

“© 1994.2014 S.R.Canonne & J.A.Pfeiffer” The French Pastry School, L.L.C

This was adapted from an article originally published in Modern Baking 2007. “© 1994.2014 S.R.Canonne & J.A.Pfeiffer” The French Pastry School, L.L.C

About The French Pastry School

The French Pastry School of Kennedy-King College at City Colleges of Chicago is the premier international institution of pastry arts education. Superb instruction, superior equipment, and top quality ingredients enable the co-founders, Chefs Jacquy Pfeiffer and Sébastien Canonne, M.O.F., to uphold an exceptional educational facility for all things sweet and baked. The French Pastry School’s team of award-winning instructors has grown to a faculty of many renowned chefs, including Nicole Bujewski, Patrick Doucet, John Kraus, Sunny Lee, Eric Perez, and Joel Reno; Master Baker, Jonathan Dendauw; United States Master Baker, Jeffrey Hamelman; Master Cake Artist, Nicholas Lodge; World Baking Champion, Pierre Zimmermann; and World Pastry Champions, Patrice Caillot and En-Ming Hsu. The French Pastry School instructs over one thousand students and pastry professionals in hands-on classes each year and offers three main programs: L’Art de la Pâtisserie, a full-time 24-week pastry and baking certificate program; L’Art du Gâteau, The Professional Cake Baking and Decorating Program, a full-time 16-week certificate program; L’Art de la Boulangerie, an 8-week Artisanal Bread Baking Course; and Continuing Education courses, 3- to 5-day long classes year-round for professionals as well as food enthusiasts. Additionally, the Chef Instructors of The French Pastry School lead demonstrations on the premises and around the country for thousands more pastry professionals and enthusiasts. The French Pastry School offers you the rare opportunity to learn the art of pastry in an intimate setting, being personally mentored by masters in their field. Your skills will be finely honed through hands-on practice and repeated exposure to the best pastry techniques, tools, and ingredients. Our school is dedicated only to the art of pastry, and it is our goal to be the finest pastry school in the United States, producing the best-prepared professionals entering the industry. The French Pastry School's programs are approved by the Illinois Community College Board through Kennedy-King College at City Colleges of Chicago. Students in our full-time certificate programs earn from 16 to 24 college credit hours.

“© 1994.2014 S.R.Canonne & J.A.Pfeiffer” The French Pastry School, L.L.C